Chapter 17

The darkness in his body would only get stronger with every year that passed. Minho was born as an only child to two witches, trying to blend into human society like other witches would do. But Minho from an early age stood out from the other humans, even the other witches. And when his sleep pattern was getting more nocturnal and more strict as time went on, this worried his parents. These qualities indicated that Minho would be a nocturnal witch, one of powerful dark energy. The boy was pulled out of human school, being homeschooled by his mother to accommodate Minho's inhuman sleep schedule.

By the time Minho was twelve, his powers truly solidified. His dark energy was strong, and his aura would even bring discomfort to his own parents. Minho felt like he had no control over his own body, his powers manifesting with no end.

One day Minho got into an argument with his Dad. Looking back he couldn’t even remember what the argument had been about, emphasizing how much he overreacted during what came next. A black fog surrounded the nocturnal witch’s body. Minho’s soul, filled with rage, lashed out at his Dad. He nearly suffocated him, not even being able to stop himself if he tried. Eventually his Mom ran into the room and stopped Minho, zapping him with a burning hot bolt of lightning to snap him out of it. He dropped to the ground, realizing what he had done. He looked up at his parents in terror, desperately trying to apologize for what happened.

In fear that Minho’s power and energy would get out of control and be discovered by humans, he was taken away from his parents. Another witch in hiding kept Minho. She was supposed to work with Minho in fixing his unpredictable darkness. But instead, she would just isolate Minho in the basement of her house, telling him how much of a danger he was with his dark powers, how he’ll only hurt people.

A few years later, the witch holding Minho let her guard down one night, and he took the opportunity to escape. The witch chased after him and Minho hadn’t had the slightest idea of where to go, just letting the wind and his body take him wherever he could away from her. That’s when he found a dark forest and ran inside. The creatures of the night witnessed the boy running in and how distressed he was. They worked together, going to the outskirts of the woods and fighting the witch to leave Minho alone.

“Why would you protect me?” Minho had asked one of the vampires.

“Because we need you. This forest needs you. You’re one of us now,” Is what they responded with.

And there he was, staying in a secluded forest with fantasy creatures that he had never seen before. He was not only scared of them for a while, but also scared he was going to hurt them. That was until he felt his dark energy weaken over the course of being there, realizing that the forest fed off of it.

The day he met Changbin was one of the most memorable ones for him. The younger didn’t trust him at all, not convinced that he could keep the forest thriving with his magic. Minho didn’t trust him either because he was a lunar witch, and he was worried that Changbin was either going to hurt him or he’d accidentally hurt Changbin. But when the lunar witch saw Minho releasing dark energy to the forest for the first time, he was shocked and amazed, having tried so many different things to do the same after his family were killed a few years ago.

Changbin offered Minho a place to stay in his cottage, a home for the older to make himself comfortable in while Changbin would study him and his effect on the forest. At first Minho was anxious about the arrangement but tried it out. They’d learn more about each other while living together, and Minho finally let his walls down after a few years, okay with Changbin getting close to him.

He didn’t ever want to think about what things would be like if he went outside the dark forest. He’s scared of what would happen if he didn’t have an outlet anymore to release the strong, dark magic always coursing through his body.

“Minho? Are you feeling okay?”

The nocturnal witch snapped out of his daze, looking at the younger. “Oh, I’m fine. We should um, head home now.”

Jisung pouted a little. “But we just got here. And you didn’t answer my question-“

“Let’s go,” Minho said in a serious tone.

Jisung hesitated but then agreed, getting up from the ground and saying goodbye to the cat spirits.

Even when the energy potion wore off, Jisung did not feel tired at all. He knew dawn was approaching soon, and the thought of the sun coming up made Jisung’s body feel light.

Felix and Changbin got home a little bit after he and Minho had gotten home. The kitchen witch was a little sluggish, looking like he had just woken up. He carried a measuring cup full of flowers and placed it on the coffee table. Then as he usually did, he made his way into the kitchen to cook.

“Breakfast is ready! Or is it dinner? You know what, nevermind. All of our sleep schedules are whack,” Felix called.

The kitchen witch brought over the dishes to the table, pretty much having cooked a whole feast. On the different plates were generous slices of juicy marinated pork, easy roasted caramelized vegetables, sweet braised potatoes, and a number of other side dishes and bowls of rice. Everyone else gawked.

“Felix? Why?” Changbin finally breathed.

“You don’t like it?” Felix worried in a small voice.

“Like it? It looks incredible! But... what’s the occasion?” He questioned, looking at Minho to see if the older happened to know something he didn’t.

“Does there need to be an occasion for good food?” Felix scoffed. “Now feed yourselves while it’s hot. I worked hard on this.”

“You think they’ll really believe us today?” Seungmin asked.

“I’m sure they will. But just in case, we tell them now so we can give them time to think about it,” Jeongin said.

“What about Felix and Jisung? Are they going to tell the other witches today too?” He asked.

“Both of the witches sleep during the day, only one being nocturnal but the other has the same habit I guess. I told them both earlier to tell the witches at a time where they’d all be awake. Which I guess according to Jisung, is either dusk or dawn.”

The art witch and divination witch walked to the beach, the sun being high in the sky and shining on the humans who cooled off by the water. Last night, Jeongin and Seungmin parted with the other two, suggesting that they meet up during noon of the next day to discuss something. Thankfully, Chan was free the next day to meet up so they could all talk without leaving anyone behind. After all, this information was important for both the sea witch and music witch to hear.

“Hey!” Chan waved to them while sitting next to Hyunjin.

“Hey Chan, hey Hyunjin!” The youngest greeted them.

They all sat down in their usual spot at the end of the beach near the rocks. Not many people went over to that area and the lifeguards wouldn’t pay too much attention to them.

“You said there was something important you wanted to tell me and Chan?” Hyunjin prompted.

Seungmin shifted in his seat, nodding at Jeongin to silently let him know he wanted him to explain it first.

“This is going to be a lot to take in so please save any questions you have after I explain,” Jeongin said.

When the other witches gave him their full attention, he continued. “So me and Seungmin haven’t been completely honest with you guys...”

The divination witch tried to explain everything. How he had felt their energies one day while meditating and sensed that they were in trouble. After spending time with them and confirming it was Hyunjin and Chan that were the ones, he wanted to save them from any potential harm. He also mentioned how they came to the danger realm with Jisung and Felix who were somewhere else currently spending time with another two witches Jeongin had sensed. They had all gone to see them and bring them back to the safe realm where they could live among magical creatures just like them, without the threat of humans.

“I knew it,” Chan softly laughed when Jeongin finished.

Seungmin tilted his head a little bit at this. “Knew what?”

“I knew there had to be a bigger reason why you two came to see me and Hyunjin.”

Seungmin and Jeongin stayed quiet at this. It’s not like they wanted to keep it as a secret, it was just best to not tell them until they really knew they were the witches they had been searching for.

“I’m not sure about going,” Hyunjin finally spoke up. “The sea is already safe for me. I’m sure whatever danger there is, I’ll be fine. I don’t need to go to some ‘safe realm’ that I don’t even know exists or not.”

Seungmin’s body tensed at this. He really didn’t want the older to stay there and possibly get hurt. If Jeongin was even a little accurate about what the future holds, he knew the sea witch wasn’t going to be safe where he was.

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin pleaded. “Please come with me and Jeongin. I know you’re leaving a lot behind but we don’t want you or your family to possibly get hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin swallowed, avoiding the other’s eyes.

“We came all this way to find you guys. We’re worried what will happen,” Jeongin piped up.

“But I can’t go either,” Chan said. “I have a brother and a sister to look after. Plus, there are too many things here that require me to stay.”

“Hyung, you have to come with us. Something way worse will happen if you stay,” Jeongin argued.

Chan got up from the ground, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I trust that you understand what’s going to happen in the future Jeongin, but even so, I’m not making a decision like that so hastily.”

And with that the music witch left, the others watching him walk off. Seungmin and Jeongin wanted to call after him, but what he said made sense. They should really give him time to think about things. However, Jeongin was getting apprehensive. The longer they waited, the more unsure he was about how things would turn out. While meditating, he hasn’t felt as many things as he thought he would. No hints to any threats and no energies detected from any people who could complicate their journey. It was oddly unsettling.

Hyunjin sighed and got up from his seat. He walked over to the waters and stepped in the shallow level, sitting down and letting the lower half of his body be submerged. It’s not like he didn’t want to go, that wasn’t it at all. He was just scared. The sea was all he’s ever known.

He felt someone sit next to him, but he didn’t look up, already knowing who it was.

“You really don’t trust us?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin’s head turned to the side. “No, it’s not like that at all. It’s just, how would I be safer on land then in water? I have a connection with this sea, and I don’t know what would happen if I left it.”

Seungmin frowned. “We’re not telling you that you’ll have to leave forever. Hopefully when things are safe again, you can come back here. And you can see your hyungs.”

Hyunjin let out a weak laugh. “What would they even say when I tell them all this?”

“Well what would they say?”

“Huh?”

“You’ll never know unless you ask them. If they’re the main reason why you can’t go, it doesn’t hurt to explain the situation to them. Me and Jeongin can even come with you.”

Hyunjin furrowed his brows at the suggestion. “You really think it could work?”

“It doesn’t hurt to try.”

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