Chapter Text
There's a subtle beauty in the balance of restoration magic that's always appealed to Jin, even before his soul's spell-power was bound to an unassuming oak and left to the mercy of the bustling forest surrounding it. His father's magic had been kept in an enormous willow, his mother's in an ancient ash tree, and his older brother's in a graceful pine, all scattered through the forests of the mountainside, preserving their powers and allowing them to harness the ancient magic of the woods in exchange for keeping watch over their trees, caring for them and tending to them and protecting them from harm. Of course, that meant that their magic was vulnerable if their tree was weakened or harmed, and made it important to never let more than a week or so pass without checking in on their tree, something Jin had been exceedingly inattentive about during his initial years as a mage. He has to admit to the occasional carelessness these days too, perhaps not making the journey into the forest as often as he strictly should, but he can feel the hum in his chest of the oak no matter where he is, can feel its waning and waxing power, ensures he's there whenever it needs extra sunlight, protection from pests, added soil nutrition.
On this too-early Thursday morning, he's making the hike towards the oak after feeling the pixie damage it sustained two days before, the gouges in the bark deep enough to make his magic muddled and constricted and cloying in his chest. As he carefully steps over roots and respectfully nods at the familiar trees he passes, Jin flips through the restoration magic tome he'd borrowed from his father, narrowing down the most appropriate spell to undo the damage entirely, as healing directly would take far more magic than Jin has access to, this far from the last full moon. He grimaces when he steps into the clearing with his oak itself, bowing his head politely in deference before stepping forward, raising a hand to press a palm against the clawed bark. He exhales deeply, closes his eyes, reaches within him for the honey gold line of connection linking his own soul and the very core of the tree's immense lifespan, stretching far before his own and reaching endlessly far after. It's comforting, a soothing encompassing of warmth and safety and belonging, and he lets himself breathe it in deeply for a long moment as the birds sing in the early dawn and the sunbeams begin to slowly arch across the sky above him, spilling subtle heat into the air as the branches lean up to meet the warmth.
Jin smiles at his tree, and with a determined nod, lifts the book again, flipping to the first of the two spells he'll need. His magic is sputtering in his chest, a usually bubbling well now parched almost dry this near the end of the month, and he fervently hopes he will have enough magic for just these two spells, just this. The first of the two is a barrier spell, which will serve the beneficial purposes of locking the effects of the spell to just the exact circumference of the tree, not impacting any of the surrounding plants or wildlife, and to keep the oak safe from further harm for as long as the barrier spell can last - at least 2 days easily, and optimistically, up to 4 depending on the amount of magic the other spell saps from him. The second spell is the more worrisome of the two, as he's had extensive experience with barrier spells, which are more predictable and durable and reliable, versus time spells, which are largely unresearched and finicky and complicated. Ideally, the time spell will latch into the barrier spell, and will target the most grievous damage and reverse time so that instead of trying to heal it, the harm was never inflicted at all.
It certainly isn't an implementation of the spell he's used before, and it isn't one he's heard of being applied in contexts exactly mirroring his, but as a repair method used for inanimate objects and supposedly for basic herbs, the concept should apply here too. Probably. Ideally. Hopefully. He's cautious, as he delicately tugs and winds the very barest final strings of magic from his chest, nerves prickling as he weaves the spell with careful deliberation and precise intention. There won't be a second chance to get this right before the full moon, and that isn't for another week, and Jin not only owes it to his soul-tree to care for it and tend to its wounds, but to his own magic that he will definitely need far before the next full moon. The spells have to be cast at precisely the same moment, to best weave into each other and remain connected, and will even draw subtle strength from each other if he can get this right. Jin sees a subtle shimmer around the tree as the barrier spell begins to manifest, and he exhales slowly, forcing his breath to remain steady. The barrier spell will activate faster, the time spell assessing the damage properly before it begins to reverse it, but neither spell can be undone once cast so he has to be painstakingly careful and focus, focus -
With a resounding crash of the underbrush, two humans hurtle out of the trees into the clearing, one chasing the other, both laughing high and clear, very much running far too quickly for their momentum to allow them to stop. There's a split second, when the shorter one stumbles over a root and crashes into the ground, that the younger, taller one's big eyes widen as they lock on his own, and his horror is mirrored in the other's gaze just before, with a colossal impact, he slams into him, and they both crash to the ground. Jin is scrambling to standing instantly, whirling around, heart pounding when he realizes the subtle shimmer around the tree has vanished, that the barrier spell - the barrier spell -
The human is calling something concerned and apologetic, but Jin's frantic gaze whips around the clearing, searching for any indistinct haze, any disturbed air or odd shine or sign of where the barrier spell might have latched because damn it his oak wasn't protected and wasn't going to heal and he was out of magic but where did the magic go, where had his spells gone?
"-shouldn't have been going that fast, I'm really sorry again!"
Jin snaps his gaze back to the younger human beside him, who straightens at the attention, big eyes and floppy dark hair and biting his lip nervously.
"I'm Jungkook, by the way, and this is my brother Yoongi. We're… we're really sorry we knocked you over."
"Jin." He responds quickly, turning back to his oak, to the gouges he won't be able to heal anymore with the dead well of sapped magic in his chest, but he can feel the thread of the two spells so where could they have gone? Unless the barrier spell is fully active? In which case it would no longer be visible! With a surge of hope, he leaps forward towards his oak, hand outstretched to feel for the spell - but for the second time in minutes, Jin finds himself crashing to the grassy ground, and his head shoots up, bewildered, when there's a cry, and Jungkook crashes down beside him as if struck. What?
He pushes himself to standing again, reaching forward slowly without moving. He can't reach the oak. But the barrier spell wouldn't have this range around the tree, it couldn't, not this far, which means - which means - that the life source the barrier spell latched to was…
Yoongi's eyes are wide with alarm when he lurches forward to help Jungkook up, slams into an invisible force, and falls heavily into a shrub. Jin stares, incomprehending, as Yoongi leaps up, shoulders heaving as he tries again, reaching out his arm and - Yoongi's fingers follow an invisible curve through the air, the barrier spell but arching around - around - Jin. The barrier spell missed the oak entirely, and rebounded onto him. He's trapped in an impenetrable magic barrier for up to five days, and he can't reach out to his oak because he can't reach out to anything, and his magic is gone until the next full moon, a week away. The compounding headache has him pressing the back of his hand to his forehead as Jungkook beside him reaches his own hand out, steps forward towards Yoongi - and rebounds off the invisible wall between them. Jin wants to bury his face in his hands, wants to collapse to the ground and throw a tantrum, because somehow this human boy is trapped alongside him in an invisible magic dome, and Jin doesn't have a way to get him out either.
He can see the realization dawn slowly in the boy's eyes, but it only seems to crystallize in fear as Jungkook slowly turns to face him, his whisper to Yoongi muted and frightened. "It… it moved with him. It's… the barrier is around him."
Yoongi goes very still beside them, and Jin pinches the bridge of his nose. What could have happened to the other spell? If the barrier is linked to his own magic now, has latched onto him, then he's stuck, but why would it have locked the human in as well? For protection? It didn't make sense, and even as he exhaled and felt carefully for the strands of the spell, he could feel that it had already fully manifested, solid and unchangeable, nothing he'll be able to modify or slip out of before the magic itself wears away. He forces himself to refocus on the humans, and Jungkook beside him looks afraid.
"Please let me go." Jungkook's request is quiet and anxious. "Please, I - I'm sorry I knocked you over, I didn't mean to, please."
"Let him go." Yoongi snarls, and suddenly there's a gleaming knife in his hand, expression dark. "Let him go now, or I'll make you."
Jin shakes his head wearily, sighing. "No, no, it isn't me, it's not - it's a spell I did, it wasn't supposed to -"
"You did a spell on me?" Jungkook whispers, wide-eyed and hunching into himself, and Jin sighs.
"No, no, it was for the tree, it was supposed to -"
"Undo it!" Yoongi growls. "Take the spell back, let him out!"
"I can't." Jin huffs, frustrated. "I used up the magic I had already."
"Do it now." Yoongi brandishes his blade threateningly as Jungkook tries to edge away from Jin, pressing himself against the barrier, though there's hardly enough slack for a few steps between them. Jin feels a pang of sympathy, stepping towards him to reassure him then regretting it when Jungkook's weight that had been leaning fully against the barrier crashes to the ground. Jin freezes when Jungkook throws his arms over his head, ducking and crying out. "No, don't, please!"
"Leave him alone!" Yoongi shouts, and Jin raises his hands in surrender again, looking up at Yoongi then down at Jungkook below him.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I wouldn't do that."
"Then let him out!" Yoongi demands forcefully, and Jungkook nods fervently, eyes wide.
"Please let me out, please, I'm really sorry for knocking you down, I'm sorry."
Jin shakes his head, exasperated at their lack of comprehension. "That's not it, I never - I don't have the magic, I can't do anything."
"You're a witch." Yoongi spits poisonously, and Jin wisely decides against correcting to mage, instead choosing to clarify.
"Yes, but I'm out of magic. I won't have more until the full moon."
Jungkook flinches beside him at the words, raising a hand to cover his mouth, and Yoongi's eyes bulge. "You mean the full moon in a week? You're not kidnapping my brother for a week."
"The spell won't last past tomorrow or so." Jin says easily, though he shrewdly wonders how true that'll be, if this will be the one spell that lasts longer than he wants, when of course, all his other spells wither and fade so quickly when it isn't convenient to him.
"I don't believe you." Yoongi's trying to keep his eyes hard, but the worry for his brother is bright and searing, and Jin feels remorse surge through him again, and keeps his voice steady.
"I was casting a spell on a tree, and Jungkook bumped into me. That's why the spell trapped him with me." He can't be certain of that of course, and he's honestly still bewildered as to why the human is stuck within the barrier too, but that's not what Yoongi or Jungkook need to hear in their panic right now. "I can't undo it, I promise I'm telling the truth.
Jungkook looks increasingly frightened, and Yoongi even more distressed, and suddenly, he's whirling the knife and pointing it at the oak.
"What if I carve another gash into this tree, you won't have a different answer then?"
"No!" Jin cries, leaping forward, wincing when Jungkook is hurled forward with him. He holds up his hands, fervent. "No, no, please. Please don't hurt the tree. I don't have the magic, I promise. Don't hurt it."
"Let Jungkook out, now!" Yoongi shouts, striding closer to the tree, blade gleaming, and the panic in Jin's chest erupts.
"I can't, I promise, please! You can't hurt that tree, please!" His oak is already injured, already weakened, and with his magic depleted, this close to his oak when it took on injury, and Jin entirely unable to defend it? His soul would crumple inside him, is shrieking warning even now, and desperation rattles through him when he sees Yoongi's eyes rove over Jungkook's hunched, fearful shoulders, before he sets his jaw in resolve. In that instant, Jin knows Yoongi will do it, that he'll take his blade to the ancient oak, and Jin's heart shoots into his throat as Yoongi takes another leap towards his hostage - hostage.
"I'm so, so sorry, Jungkook." Jin whispers hastily, then in one swift motion, yanks the boy up by his arm, twisting it behind him and yanking him against his chest as Jungkook cries out in protest. Yoongi's eyes widen, and he surges towards the barrier.
"Let him go!" Yoongi roars, and the rage in his dark eyes is frightening.
"I promise I will." Jin can feel Jungkook trembling against him, his fear a terrible sensation that sends remorseful goosebumps up Jin's arms at the wrongness. "I promise I don't want to hurt him, but you can't hurt the tree, please. Please."
"I'll carve it to shreds," Yoongi spits, "and you're next if you don't let him go right now." Then Yoongi's knife glints as he lunges towards the tree again, and there's a weak flutter at Jin's core as his connection with the oak flares and sparks.
"I'm so, so sorry." Jin breathes, then he's yanking Jungkook's arm forcefully back, and Jungkook's cry is a choked out, pained sound that makes Jin's eyes prickle, and he hates it, he hates this. Yoongi jolts as if electrified, fury tempered by fear, and Jin swallows hard against Jungkook's pained pants as he holds the gasping boy against his chest.
"Yoongi, please." Jin calls, earnest and low. "No one has to get hurt, please. I'm really, really sorry, please. You can't hurt the tree. Please."
But Yoongi's furious eyes flicker to the tree, and he hefts his blade and glances at the oak's gashed bark, and Jin knows Yoongi thinks he can lunge fast enough, knows he's weighing it as an option, knows Yoongi might do something terrible that can't be undone in a moment of clouded judgment and heightened emotion. Jin breathes miserable apologies and bites his tongue, then in a sharp motion that he knows will haunt him, yanks Jungkook's arm back brutally hard. Jungkook gasps, a strangled cry of pain, collapsing in Jin's hold with a loud whimper and then finally, he pleads, "Hyung!"
It's instantaneous, Yoongi's eyes widening and the knife dropping to the mossy floor as he raises his arms frantically, tone urgent. "No, please! Stop, don't hurt him, please!"
The words physically slam into Jin with a surge of nausea, and he wants to keel over, hates this, hates the way all of this is unfolding, has never hurt anyone in his life and his hands shake with it uncontrollably as he hastily releases Jungkook. Jin is careful not to scramble back the way Jungkook tries to, trying to be mindful of the barrier tied to him and the way it would yank Jungkook forward with him, especially as Jungkook presses his back to the barrier's invisible wall frantically, doe eyes tear-filled as he clutches at his shoulder looking terrified. And they can't get very far from each other, it's at most three short steps, but when Jungkook winces, Jin instinctively steps forward and Jungkook flinches hard and it burns in Jin's throat and makes his eyes prickle.
"I'm really sorry." Jin breathes, winding his hands together and turning to include a glaring Yoongi in the apology. "That oak tree can't be hurt, it's already wounded, and I have to protect it. I'm very, very sorry."
Yoongi looks cold and unaffected, and his quiet question is icy and flat. "So now we just wait two days for you to let him go?"
Jin wonders how to explain that the barrier spell could be as strong as three or four days depending on how much the other spell expended, since his meager magic had to divide between the two, but realization makes him bolt upright, clapping a hand to his forehead. "The second spell!"
Jungkook's voice is very small. "Second?"
Jin runs a hand through his hair, eyes wide, mind whirling. "They were linked… but if the barrier spell latched onto me, the other should have too…" He bites his lip, contemplating. "It was a spell to undo damage, it wasn't meant for people… what would it do to me?"
"What if it kills you?" Yoongi asks bluntly, and Jungkook shoots him a wide-eyed, imploring stare that Yoongi ignores. "Will the barrier disappear, it'll let him out?"
"It wouldn't kill me." Jin answers distractedly, trying to recall any instances of time spells like these being used on people. "But no, the spell wouldn't dissipate, he'd just be stuck in here with my body."
Jungkook pales at that, pressing himself harder against the barrier, and his soft whisper is frightened. "Please."
Yoongi's reassurance is hushed and soothing. "Hey, hey, it'll be okay, it's going to be okay."
"The spell should kick in soon." Jin muses, flexing his hands and waiting for the telltale glow of the spell activating, glancing at his oak where its branches shiver slightly, just out of reach. "Then we can see what it -" Jin's jaw drops.
The spell glimmers, a slow, gradual spark as it sparks into life, but not on him - the spell isn't on him. All three of them watch in horror as Jungkook's palms light up, glittering light along his fingers, illuminating the terror on his face as he looks up at Yoongi, tears in his eyes.
"H-hyung."
"What's it doing to him?" Yoongi roars, rounding on him as Jin raises his hand to run through his hair, bewildered.
"I - um, I really don't know, I…"
Yoongi whirls around, slamming a fist to the ground beside him, and his demand seeps desperation. "Let me in, too. Let the barrier take me, too!"
"I can't!" Jin protests, worry flitting through his chest as the spell's glow brightens, Jungkook's shaking hands casting reflections rippling around the clearing. "It's a set spell, I can't just -"
"What's happening?" Jungkook whispers, and his entire body is wracked with a violent shiver, another.
"Does it hurt?" Yoongi demands, frantic and pressing himself bodily against the invisible barrier. "Is it hurting you?"
Jungkook squeezes his eyes closed, takes a shuddering breath, and Jin stares, mind whirling as Jungkook gasps. "I'm - I'm -"
Jungkook's dazed voice gives out just as his knees do, and he crashes to the ground. Jin kneels in front of him hastily as Yoongi cries out in alarm, and carefully rests a hand on his shoulder, which is too warm, shaking slightly.
"I'm sorry." Jin whispers apologetically, then tilts his head as the magic ripples beneath him, active and surging. "What do you feel? What is it doing?"
Jungkook's voice is weak, rasping. "I feel… I think…"
"Gguk-ah," Yoongi's tears are bright and desperate as he cries out, uselessly clawing at the barrier between them. "Jungkook."
The spell stutters, dims beneath his hand, and Jungkook's pulse slows, making Jin's heart stammer with panic. It couldn't kill him, right? A time spell for restoration certainly couldn't kill him, wouldn't do that? Right?
Jungkook's tears spill over, streaking down his cheeks as his face crumples with fear, as he curls into himself on the forest floor. Yoongi is slamming himself desperately against the barrier, and he turns to Jin with his pleading cries. "Please, please do something, p-please!"
"I can't!" Jin stammers helplessly, chest entirely emptied of magic and soul-bound oak just steps away, entirely unable to lend him its power. "I'm sorry, I - I can't!"
He feels the surge of magic just a second before the blinding flash of light flares out, and a powerful ripple pulses through the air around them as the spell activates. He blinks away the white spots obscuring his vision to see what the spell has done, what its effects could've been, because he can hear the rustling fabric of clothes, can feel the motion right beside him, against his leg. Jungkook is alright, he has to be, he has to be, and - oh.
It is almost strange how obviously it's Jungkook. The strange part about how easily and immediately apparent it is that it's Jungkook is that the boy blinking up at him from the leaf-strewn forest floor beside him is at most four years old. The same floppy dark hair, the same enormous eyes - even bigger on such a tiny face. He's swimming in the enormous clothes he'd been wearing as a young man, and his tiny hands are completely obscured by the endless sleeves they're swamped in. Jin stares, eyes wide with shock, and beside him, Yoongi claps a hand over his mouth with a gasp. Jin feels his heart squeeze when Jungkook's lip wobbles, his big eyes fill, and he immediately bursts into tears.