Free Will

Epilogue

It turns out that without New Magic to aid them, the gods are quite easy to corral. Admittedly, Old Magic still resides in Jimin's veins, simmering just under the surface ready and eager to be called by one which it considers worthy. With its help he's able to guide them somewhere where they'll cause no more harm. He himself doesn't quite know where he's going, only following the tugs it makes, lighting his path with gentle and warm tendrils.

Somehow Jimin's not surprised when they end up in the same fairground they visited all those nights ago.

"Is this where that fortune teller lives?" Hoseok asks.

"Seer," Taehyung says, "But yeah this is it. Got that same foreigner that led us to her any everything." He turns to Jimin, hand in hand with Jungkook, his face questioning. "Why are we here- no actually why is she here? What a weird coincidence."

"I don't think it's a coincidence. She knew we'd be here remember? I mean after she send Yoongi and I to The Library she'd have to know we'd come here so for whatever reason she came as well."

"Great." Jin leans against Jimins, his shoulders practically blocking out the sun as he glares at the gods, bound as the are by Old Magic. "Now we have to talk to that hag again. Next thing you know she's gonna tell me it's not just my brother thats alive, but my first lover too!"

Tae snickers at that, although when Kookie points out Namjoon's terrified face it turns into a full blown guffaw.

As the others tease Namjoon Yoongi slips in just behind Jimin and murmurs in his ear. "The better question is, where in the everloving fuck are we meant to put your family."

"I'll take them in my troop and ensure they are able to bring harm to none." A young woman has snuck up behind them. From her long thin fingers hangs a cigarette smelling of incense, it's flamboyance beaten only by her attire. It looks as though her cloak is made up of the entirety of a persian rug store, underneath it her clothes made up of swatches of fabric held together by mere threads. Each swatch is a deeper black than the last, some so much so Jimin is sure the void of the universe was created from them. Around her neck hangs scarves of all difference makings and colors, a dizzying blur that drives him to look down at her feet, where her bare toes are digging up dirt and worms.

Truly though, it is her face that deserves attention. Her features are that which words cannot describe, nor can a painting do justice. Even Jin would not argue his looks against hers, though surely Namjoon would- only because he worked hard to gain his lovesick puppy statis, though.

"You do not recognize me then, young ones?"

It takes a moment for Jimin to realize she's spoken. "No- I, um, mean- should I? It's only that-"

"I do." Taehyung says.

"Yes." She gives him an appraising look. "You are intelligent indeed. Now then." The woman turns to Jimin, and it's only when she begins to speak again that he gains of spark of recognition. "Park Jimin. No harm shall come to them, for without the corruption of New Magic they shall be given a chance to prove themselves to truly be good people. Though it may be harder for some than it is for others." She gives Jimin's father a playful smile from where he fights against his silencing charm. As she speaks her attendants come up to take the gods somewhere within the fair, assumingly using some kind of magic as Jimin can see no physical restraints.

"You're- the seer." Jimin says, hesitantly.

"Quite," Her voice holds amusement. "Have you my vial?"

"You mean Amaphities vial? Yes, and what of it?"

"I'd like to have it back if you're quite willing to part from it. You see it hasn't been by my side since I created it, and it holds quite a few good memories for me, as well as quite a well of power which I'm not sure you fickle humans are quite ready for the responsibilities of yet." She holds out her delicate hand, and in that moment Jimin's sure she could crush him with it if she wished.

"You mean to tell me that the creator of all that is. The Amaphitie herself. Sent us on a quest? Out of what? Compassion."

"Indeed, although I prefer to go by the name Ji-eun these days, Amaphitie is so ancient." She plops herself on the grounds she'd just rooted up with her toes and motions for them to sit, not seeming to care that they were in the middle of a walkway or that many of them were already itching to be on their way.

The seer- for that's all Jimin can reconcile to call her in his mind- waits until they all get comfortable on the hard packed ground before she begins to speak. "Long ago there was nothing in the universe- indeed there was not even a universe. All I knew was that I existed, though I had no physical form, and that I was oh so very lonely." She eyes Jimin, "You know of that, do you not?

"I soon learned that the only way to create another being that was not simply an extension of myself was to give it a physical form, and so too was that the only way to communicate with it. As time passed I learned more of what my little creations- which I had begun to call humans -needed in order to live happily, and though none had come to be able to live as long as I, I learned to live happily alongside them, to show them some of the secrets of the universe and watch as their eyes lit in response.

"I came to love my little children with all my infinite heart, and though they begun to discover that there is darkness in the world, and hatred has dug it's seed deep, that love shall never fade.

"So yes, Park Jimin it is because of compassion I sought to help humanity, just as it is because of compassion I whispered thoughts of curiosity into your ears that day you discovered the plight of humans."

Jimin recoils, nearly getting in a workers way as he does. "You did that? I'd always wondered why I suddenly cared about what went on beyond heaven..." He trails off, and when he speaks again, his voice is laced with something akin to betrayal. "Was it also because of you that the Old Magic took so easily to me? Did you have a hand in all of this?"

"Not at all. There is a certain balance in the world, that not even I created. A certain affinity light and dark to battle it out, just as old and new do. We are not always so lucky that the good wins, but perhaps the balance thought you had suffered enough." She looks up, directly into the beating sun, but doesn't even so much as blink as it stares into her eyes, causing tears to stream down her inhumanly perfect face. "Perhaps there is something even greater than I out there, mayhaps it even created me in order to entertain it as I did humans so I might not be so lonely." She sighs as she looks down. "I cannot say for certain, though I can tell me having the seven of you here gives me hope that this new age will be brighter for humanity." She stands, but none of them rise with her.

"Stay with us as long as you like, my people will welcome you as their own forevermore." She begins to walk away before halting once more. "And to answer your unasked question Jung Hoseok. I have indeed taken lovers before, and I would be honored if you would choose to be mine for one night or for the rest of your days." She smiles teasingly as the maknaes push a stunned Hobi around, before leaving them for real.

As Taehyung and Jungkook pester Hobi he tries to defend himself. Jimin just sits there watching, even as Jin kisses his forehead with the murmured whisper that he and Namjoon are looking for some food. He watches the world go by even as Yoongi takes his hand and pulls him away, through colorful tents and even more colorful people. He watches the world go by as he and Yoongi finally make love under the sun, and again under the stars, until he doesn't know where he ends and Yoongi starts.

He watches the world go by as he lies by Yoongi's slumbering form, the barest of light beginning to emerge from the dawn. Even if Jimin no longer has an eternity, watching his friends- his family -be happy in their little human lives, that's enough for him.