Chapter Text
Taehyung’s hands had been shaking all day.
It was finally time to take the step he had been working so hard to achieve. It was finally time to become part of a coven. Though not just any coven.
He was joining Bangtan.
They were one of the most renowned covens in the area, praised for both their multifaceted classifications and their benevolence towards the community. Some covens that received the label of Elite had bad manner towards their communities and were thus showed themselves as the antithesis of true Elite status. Not Bangtan, though. If anything, they had doubled down on their community boosting activities after gaining more notoriety.
The head of the coven was the powerful and mysterious Park Jimin. He was known for his fluid shadow work, both of the physical and mental variety. He had single handedly broken down the stereotypes people had about witches whose magic was dark in nature and shown that they were to be just as respected and cherished by their communities as anyone else.
Taehyung had a bit of a crush on the Shadow Channeler, and was always glad to hear Jimin’s name come up in conversation.
He could see the determination in those dark eyes, could feel the goodness of his heart, and could sympathize greatly with the witch’s mission. He just wanted society to be kinder and more empathetic. He wanted people to see each other as people, and he wanted everyone's magic to thrive. It was something Taehyung could relate to.
Though Jimin wasn't the only one that pushed this kind of narrative. The whole coven did. It was one of the many, many reasons they were so beloved.
The others within the group were the powerful Earthen Welder Jung Hoseok, the Memory Treader Kim Seokjin, the Flora Linguist Kim Namjoon, the Water Beast Guardian Jeon Jungkook, and the Inferno Conductor Min Yoongi. They were, all of them, young experts in their respective designations.
Which was part of the reason Taehyung was still baffled that they had requested that he join them. His magical designation was that of star reading - more colloquially (and sometimes incorrectly) known as fortune telling. It wasn't a common designation by any means but what he did with his magic didn't feel anywhere near as illustrious as that of Bangtan.
Which had been a point of contention within their local community. Most everyone knew each other and most agreed that Taehyung didn’t belong in the coven.
He hadn’t been surprised by the outpouring of disdain since the announcement had come out on Bangtan’s choice. Taehyung was rather used to those scathing words and ideals by this point in his life.
Despite similar astral based witching designations being seen with reverence and awe, star readers were not. This was usually due to the most common choice in harnessing their abilities - tarot cards. For some reason the mere presence of a trusted set of cards made most turn up their noses with clear distaste. Taehyung had never understood why. Tarot was a perfectly valid method of channeling one’s magic. Since decks were so common to find, it was also an easy resource for star readers to harness.
It wasn’t like it was dark all of the time. There was no way for them to commune with the stars at all hours of the day. That was part of the reason Taehyung had taken to sleeping during the day and waking at night. He needed the darkness to truly indulge in his abilities. Taehyung tended to utilize crystal balls over tarot cards, but his true favorite method was standing beneath the faint glow of the stars and allowing them to speak to him. To sway beneath those beautiful lights and lose himself in the window to the galaxy that lay beyond his reach, and let the true nature of his birthmark thrive under their gaze.
His mother had always loved his birthmark. It was nearly invisible during the daytime, only a patchwork covering of shimmering skin that aligned seamlessly with his natural golden tan complexion. It was only at night that his birthmark awakened into its truest form. His magic would swell within him and light up his shimmering birthmark to match that welcoming glow of the stars overhead. Star Child - his mother used to call him - a little star that wandered from the sky and fell into her loving arms.
While he bore a hefty load of self consciousness, Taehyung could never hate his magic. Not when it gave him a chance to feel like something so much more than the community's chosen pariah.
The stars were his friends, his guardians. They had been there to comfort him after his mother’s passing. They had listened to his grief as he tried to move on. They had guided him to Bangtan when he had come back into his witching abilities, urging that he seek the comfort of a coven.
It had been under the gentle light of those same stars that he had first met Jimin. The Shadow Channeler had been wandering the woods, apparently chasing down an errant shade, when he had stumbled upon Taehyung's favorite clearing.
Taehyung had been listening to the song of the stars that night without a care for reading into their words. Sometimes the greatest gift of being a star reader was being able to understand the galaxy like it was an old friend stopping in for a conversation. He could never even hope to describe to the feeling to anyone else.
He had tried that night when Jimin asked him, but all he had been able to come up with was a series of half finished descriptions paired with hums that seemed similar to the song of the stars.
Jimin had laughed so hard that he had fallen to the ground in a fit of amusement.
It had been their first of many meetings in those woods. Jimin continued to seek him out and Taehyung continued to find solace beneath the stars. They spoke and laughed and shared little thoughts about their day. They became closer.
“Your skin glows as the stars do, is that… normal?”
”Your eyes turn dark as obsidian when you use your magic, is that normal?”
”Touché - I don’t ask in a demeaning manner. It is lovely, suiting to someone who is a star reader. Does the glow correlate to your magic?”
”It doesn’t. This is just my skin. My mother used to say that stardust pressed itself into my being and that’s why I shimmer and glow.”
”A birthmark from the stars.. how radiant to see.”
”…Thank you, Jimin-ssi.”
”Do shadows feel like anything?”
”It’s hard to describe. They are ultimately without corporeality but I can connect with them when I use my magic. Though, I suppose if I had to give them a temperature description? I would say cool.”
”…A typical choice of word from someone that prides in their magic.”
”Yah! I can’t help it, Taehyung-ssi. That’s the closest word I have.”
”Mmm-hmm.”
”For such a shiny little star, you sure can be mean sometimes.”
“You take enjoyment in our banter, don’t lie.”
”Alas, I do. How dare you drag such truths from me.”
”What do the stars say tonight, Taehyung-ssi?”
”That you are loud and your shadows are wiggly.”
”I-… WHAT?!”
”Ahaha, you are easy to fool sometimes, Jimin-ssi.”
”Mean.”
”Only for you.”
“The sky is clear, and the dancing star is out in the forest once more.”
”The night is dark, and the shadow walker is being oddly poetic again. Have you nothing better to do, Jimin-ssi?”
”Not when it comes to you, little star.”
It was easy to forget that Jimin was the leader of Bangtan Coven when they met in the woods. It was easy to just be the two of them, unhindered by their respective social standings.
Then before he knew it, Bangtan was offering him a place in their coven. The final member to be granted entrance.
Taehyung had been shocked about it ever since, especially when worked up the courage to accept and was on the receiving end of a radiant smile from the entire coven. The others barely knew him, operating mostly on what they had been told from Jimin from their nightly encounters. Which was beyond humbling to know.
Him, a lowly star reader, was going to be part of Bangtan. What a daydream to be living.
Taehyung had finally put in his gifted earrings (beautiful stars given to him by Jimin) when there was a knock at his front door.
A sudden strike of dread went through him.
Had he gotten the time wrong? Had they changed their mind? Was it even his induction day? What if he’d slept through it? What if it had been an elaborate dream he’d made for himself and now reality was coming to-
Another knock.
His shaking hands fumbled with the bag in his hands, so he threw it down on his bed and raced to the door.
As soon as he opened it, his stomach sank even further. Icy cold dread took captive of his blood and made him feel like a statue frozen in time.
For there stood Choi Heejin. She was a well spoken of Crystal Mage within their community. She had been in the running as a people voted choice for Bangtan but hadn’t made the cut. Her abilities were great and seemed to impress everyone but she had this arrogance to her that shied most away from inducting her into their coven.
From the expression on her face, she wasn’t here for a social visit.
”Heejin,” he greeted. Oh, how he hoped the shaking of his voice wasn’t as noticeable as it felt.
”Pariah.”
Taehyung couldn’t quite name the feeling that hit him then. Somewhere between detached acceptance and quiet hurt.
They couldn’t even speak to him by name. For he was just the local reject. Too strange to be accepted by most, magic too easily faked for others. They didn’t trust him to be genuine, they didn’t trust that he was merely interpreting the words of the stars themselves. He could not be trusted, not be befriended, not be seen as reliable. He was their chosen pariah and that was all he’d ever be.
The only star reader to be born in the community in 100 years or more and they rejected everything they could about him.
Taehyung wondered if Bangtan had ever taken a moment to notice the disdain that the community held for him. Had they opted to draw their own conclusion? Or were they merely luring him into a false sense of security?
Amidst so much mental treachery and underhanded deeds disguised as kindness, he just wasn’t sure. A long buried part of him wanted to hope, but that concept felt so far from his grasp. The only hope he experienced was each night that he awakened, hoping that he’d be gifted a clear night to convene with the stars.
Hope, though, was such a fickle thing. So gentle but strong was its flame. It could swell to become a raging inferno if kindled, but it could also be broken down and snuffed out with barely more than a flick of someone’s hand.
The cruelest sensation was feeling hope’s flame die. Taehyung had experienced it time and time again but it never got any easier.
As he stood there in his doorway, curled in on himself and staring at Heejin, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to feel it happen all over again. Taehyung knew he’d been a fool to believe that Bangtan would want him. He had just known it was too good to be true.
”They’ve chosen someone else,” she said in an uncaring tone. “So you’re no longer needed at the coven house. They send their well wishes and all that.”
Right. Taehyung had to force down the heaving sobs that burned in his chest. He averted his eyes.
He should have known better.
”And if I were you,” Heejin continued with a flick of her hair. “I’d consider leaving. You’re already a stain on the community, Pariah. Do you really wanna be saddled with the shame of rejection on top of that?”
His throat felt tight. His breathing hitched in his windpipe. That sounded like it would shape up to be an actual nightmare. No, Taehyung knew he couldn’t stay. Not after something like this. The community would never allow that. They’d never let him forget the rejection, never let him know any semblance of peace ever again.
He couldn’t stay… even though this was his home.
His heart felt fractured in so many different places. Like he was a forsaken mirror in a crumbling house, his shards falling out and scattering all over the place.
Taehyung wanted so desperately to tear off his induction clothes and sob himself hoarse. But he would not allow himself to collapse on himself as a dying star in the company of someone like Heejin. She’d only make a mockery of him.
So he pushed down his varying waves of emotion and cleared his throat. “Was there anything else you needed?”
He needed to cry and he needed it now. She was in the way of his breakdown.
Heejin seemed disappointed by his lacking reaction. She huffed. “They’re having a big meeting after the induction ceremony, so if you wanna spare yourself the humiliation, I’d go now.”
Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse. Taehyung became detached from any further emotional turmoil. He nodded his head to show he had heard her. “Thanks for telling me,” was all he said as he closed the door in her face.
Maybe he could be mortified about it later. It would be around the same time that he considered the ramifications of his brash exit from the situation.
Heejin was a sort of drama filled figurehead to the community. She was almost always at the center of local shenanigans, whether because she was directly involved or because she knew the drama. It was always a toss up on which was the case when it came to her.
Taehyung had never cared for her. Infinitely more so now as she was the messenger to the end of his time within this community.
He shucked off clothes onto the bed and pushed wildly through his hair to muss it up. His breathing hitched into something more like hyper ventilation as he wiped the trace amounts of makeup he had put on.
Foolish he, foolish beliefs. He should have known better than to go hoping that someone like Park Jimin could see something in him.
Taehyung curled in on himself and sobbed, clutching his arms over his bare chest to feel less vulnerable. He rocked in a vague effort to soothe himself but nothing could aid the feeling of hopelessness that had taken over.
What was there to be done? They had chosen someone else. Someone more qualified or capable - heaven knows there were plenty within the community. They had chosen someone more deserving, perhaps more notable. He was just a nobody. A thorn in the side of the community he had only ever known as home. A fraud to in the eyes of those that didn’t understand his magical designation as it were.
Taehyung felt like a collapsing star. As his energy ramped with the force of his tears, his imminent self implosion loomed over his shoulder.
There was nothing to be done. It had been too good to be true.
The sudden thought of dealing with this kind of humiliation and shame for the rest of his days crossed his mind like an arrow shot from the distance. He wouldn’t be able to bear it, he knew at once. He couldn’t live in the shadow of Bangtan.
Heejin was right. He’d need to leave presently to spare himself anymore torment.
Under the light of the stars he cherished so dearly, he would leave.
There was a sharp ache in his chest as he stood atop the hill that overlooked the community. It had once been a tiny settlement of magic users that had begun blossoming into the start of a magic town. Perhaps one day soon, it would even be given a proper name.
Taehyung wouldn’t be there to see such times come to pass. He would fade from the community’s memory as the pariah that was chased from their realm.
Probably even that little cottage that had been his home for so long would be forgotten. Those sturdy walls that had housed just as many happy moments as sad ones, would become overgrown as the forest reclaimed the land it stood upon. The glass pane windows would fracture under the incessant crawl of ivy and be reclaimed by the earth. The seeds he had once kept would be harvested by wildlife and spread. The furniture would decay and rot to become nourishment for the soil.
To be lost to time was to be reclaimed by the natural forces at work, which was a beautiful thing.
Taehyung would just be sad to see his home he left to rot and decay. He wished there was a way for the forest to claim the cottage all at once.
But then again, he wouldn’t be there to see any of it happen. What did it truly matter?
He sighed. The sound was shaky and pained. The tears had yet to stop pouring from his eyes. The heaviness of his heart wouldn’t leave him be.
It was time to move on. It was time to run and begin anew. It was time… to forget that he had been taunted with a chance for his life to change.
Taehyung took one last lingering glance over the community, bowed his head towards the Bangtan Coven’s shared home, and turned to stride into the forest.
The stars would be his travel companions. His own birthmark would light his way. Taehyung did not fear the dark road ahead.
He would tread north to the lands of lingering darkness. Perhaps he would find a small place that did not saturate the sky and clouds in the light from their dwellings. A place where he could convene with the stars for as much time as possible.
The star earrings from Jimin stayed. Taehyung hadn’t had the heart to take them off. He’d allow himself the reminder they gave. He’d allow himself this bit of comfort from a time in which someone had shown him care.
He’d allow himself the courtesy of a warm memory amidst so much heaviness. He had earned that.
Taehyung wiped his face and pressed on.
It was time to find a brand new home.
That night, as it became clear something had happened to prevent Taehyung from showing himself to his own induction, Bangtan hurried to the star reader’s cottage at the edge of the community.
Once there, all they found was a remnant mess of a home. Key belongings were missing and Taehyung’s bedroom was cleared of clothing or personal effects.
Jimin was nigh inconsolable. He was adamant that something must have happened. Taehyung wouldn’t just leave.
It was only once he ran out into the forest clearing that had become their meeting point that it became clear.
A single note placed atop the worn tree stump Taehyung had always sat and danced upon was the only hint they had. The words were short but concise.
I’m sorry that I am not enough. Thank you for making me think as such for all this time, Jimin-ssi. May your final member be happy in your coven, you all have my best wishes.
Jimin had collapsed then, crying as he was comforted by his covenmates.
Someone had chased his little star from the community with a lie. He would not rest until clarification was given. He would not know peace until Taehyung knew that he was wanted, until he knew that he was their Seventh.
Bangtan would only be complete if Taehyung was within it.