Chapter Text
After the Great Purge, every child showing magical capabilities were taken to the Council to be checked.
Those with darkness running through their veins were executed quickly, quietly. The families were paid off quite handsomely for their silence.
There were rumours of a Dark Coven, hidden somewhere in the Haunted Woods. It was supposedly started by the man who killed the man responsible for the Great Purge.
Only there, could Dark Witches live.
Tommy remembers his mother telling him about the Dark Coven, back when his magic began to manifest.
“You have to suppress it,” she had whispered in the dim light of their kitchen. “If you can hide long enough that they don’t ever look for you, then you can go in search of that Coven. But no one can know. No one.”
Both of his parents weren’t Witches but his great grandmother was. Even still, she was long dead and humans didn’t know how to teach a child control.
But they had no choice.
So for fifteen years, Tommy suppressed the magic inside of him, knowing the consequences of it.
Magical suppression either led to the Witches death as their magic consumed them, or with a catastrophic disaster as the magic within exploded.
Tommy needed a Coven to balance him, to balance his magic.
They all knew no Coven would accept him.
Not with the magic in his veins.
But fifteen years have passed: no one has found out, no one has noticed. The Council haven’t knocked on their door, demanding Tommy be tested.
So he’s doing well.
Until he isn’t.
Because Tommy’s magic isn’t dark magic.
His magic is a little more complicated than that.
His magic manifests in the month-long period of hell he’s been experiencing.
First, his parents dying in a car crash in which he was able to escape the flipped vehicle without any injuries whatsoever.
Then, it was the first responders calling the Council, which led to their plane getting stuck on the tarmac due to a blizzard.
Then, it was running into three powerful witches and watching them trip and fall and run into each other as Tommy sprinted away.
Then, it was watching the Fire Witch burn half the forest down, only for Tommy to stumble upon a river.
And of course, now.
Tommy, pressed into the grass of the forest, tears running down his face as a man sits atop him, dagger hovering over his chest.
“Stop squirming!” The man hisses. There’s a white porcelain mask covering his face, a green cloak draped over his black clothes.
Tommy doesn’t stop screaming and thrashing.
“Dream!” The Fire Witch snaps. “How the fuck am I burnt?”
“You burnt me!” The Mind Witch shouts over to the Fire Witch. He holds out a blistering, pale hand. “Look what you did to me, Sap!”
“George! I need you to make him sleep!” The Curse Witch calls over.
The Mind Witch - George - glares over at him. “Dream, just curse him?”
“The spell keeps backfiring!”
Tommy whines, high in his throat.
He’s so, so scared.
He knows what they want and why they want it. It’s the reason he’s being hunted by people other than the Council.
All because of a stupid fucking prophecy: The Coven with the Luck Witch’s Heart shall have Luck bestowed on them forevermore.
Tommy doesn’t have to have dark magic for him to be hunted.
Not when his magic affects all of those around him in dangerous, unpredictable ways. He’s a Jinx. Everyone around him suffers because of him.
And even if he could contain his magic, control it, that would never be enough.
Not when his heart beats in his chest.
No Coven will accept a Jinx but they all are after his heart.
He’s sobbing and his screams get cut-off by his own sniffles and begs. It’s pathetic but he doesn’t want to feel it.
He doesn’t want to die.
He doesn’t want to be here.
He wants to be home, with his mum and dad. He wants to be anywhere but here.
“Hold still-“
A twig snaps in the forest.
All three of their heads snap to the side and Tommy takes his chance.
He kicks the Curse Witch - Dream - and scrambles away from him on his hands and knees. He’s panting like he’s ran a mile and his heart thunders in his chest.
“You little shit,” Dream hisses.
He sees Dream reach for him and he stumbles back, terrified and weak and-
“No.” A voice, soft but firm speaks.
Tommy blinks his eyes open and is met with the sight of a tall man standing in front of him, blocking Dream from getting to him.
He’s wearing a long trench-coat and when he turns, his eyes are glowing red. There’s a cigarette dangling from his lips, which are turned up into a smirk that promises danger.
The three Witches all pause at the sight of him. Tommy just sits there and shakes.
“Wilbur?” Dream whispers and the man hums, taking a long drag of his cigarette but instead of smoke billowing from his lips, it’s like a dark night filled with stars.
Tommy blinks. That’s dark magic.
That’s void magic.
“Did you forget how far into these woods you ran, Dream?” Wilbur asks, lifting his spare hand as the darkness wisps between his fingers.
Tommy doesn’t breathe.
Because the three Witches that were chasing after him are looking at Wilbur like he’s a ghost. But he’s not a ghost.
He’s a Void Witch.
One of the most dangerous types of magic is calmly dancing over the skin of his hand.
“But you-“ Dream tries only for Wilbur to start to tut.
“We wanted a change of scenery,” he replies, taking another long drag. The cigarette doesn’t seem to be shortening. “Techno was getting pissed at the cold of the mountain.”
“Is he- is Technoblade here?” The Fire Witch - Sapnap - asks, voice shaking, eyes glancing around the trees.
Wilbur laughs, the sound almost like layered screams blending into one another. The darkness abruptly dissipates from his fingers. The three Witches tense.
“Do you think you’d be alive if he was?” Wilbur asks, something like genuine curiosity in his voice. “You burnt half of the forest down, Sapnap and this kid’s screams echoed through the entirety of our land. If he were here, your heads would be making decorative pieces on our fence.”
They all shudder and Tommy should keep his mouth closed.
This is a dangerous Witch he doesn’t know but Tommy’s never been good with his impulse control.
“I’m not a kid,” he mumbles and those red eyes are suddenly blinking at him. Wilbur tilts his body to keep all of them in eyesight but his attention is now firmly on where Tommy’s gripping his knees to his chest on the ground.
“Oh?” Wilbur asks, scanning him. “You don’t look older than sixteen, man.”
Tommy shrugs, doesn’t dare drop his gaze. “I’m not a fucking kid.”
Wilbur’s lips pull into a more genuine smile as he blows the void from his lips, cigarette dangling from his long fingers.
“What do they want you for?” He asks, staring pointedly at the dagger Dream clutches to his chest. “I can’t sense any dark magic on you.”
Tommy just blinks up at him, can’t make himself say it because if he does, this will be another Witch trying to cut his ribs open.
And Wilbur is a Void Witch.
His magic could rip Tommy apart and put him back together again with ease.
Wilbur hums at his silence, turns his back on him to face the three Witches. “Any of you wish to inform me?”
They all keep their mouths shut.
Wilbur raises his eyebrows and the void appears back between his fingers. “So. Infamous bounty hunters found themselves a boy and instead of delivering him to wherever he’s asked for, you try to cut out his heart. Three Dark Witches, known to the Council and alive only because they’re powerful enough for the Council to purposefully ignore, and a single Witch child, who’s somehow beating you all.”
“Fuck off,” Dream snaps and Wilbur laughs that horrible laugh again.
“No,” Wilbur replies, smile turned mean. “I don’t think I will. Not when you come into my land trying to stab a kid.” He pauses, looks to Tommy. “Sorry, not a kid.“
Tommy gives him a brisk nod. “You’re learning.”
Wilbur snorts, turns back to the other Witches. “What’s the bounty on him?”
“None of your business,” George says, staring at his nails as if he’s not affected by this conversation.
Darkness floods Wilbur’s eyes and all three Witches take a hasty step backwards. Tommy can’t bring himself to move.
“It is, when it’s happening on my land,” Wilbur replies in an oddly pleasant tone. “So, I’ll ask again before I summon Techno and my dad and maybe the rest of my Coven - you know how angry Niki can get - what do you want with him?”
There’s a long silence.
“His heart,” Sapnap whispers, looking anywhere other than Wilbur, ignoring Dream’s hiss of his name. “The prophecy. The kid ran from the Council and we were just the ones to get to him first.”
Wilbur hums, taking a long drag of his cigarette as he turns to face Tommy with eyes as deep and dark as the void.
“What’s your name?” He asks.
Tommy frowns at him. “Why would I tell you my name when you’re just going to kill me, dickhead?”
Wilbur drops to a crouch in front of him. “I’m not going to kill you. I have no reason to.”
“The prophecy-“
“Is bullshit.” Wilbur interrupts with a sigh. “Most of them are and as much as I’m down for a little murder and torture, you’re a kid. I’m not going to cut the heart out of a kid because of a fucking prophecy.”
Tommy blinks at him, not bothering to correct him on the whole kid thing. “You’re not going to-?”
Wilbur shakes his head. “I was going to ask if there’s a Coven looking for you.”
Tommy’s throat closes up. He shakes his head. The black rushes from Wilbur’s eyes as his face softens.
“Would you like to join a Coven?” He asks.
“I’m a Jinx,” Tommy whispers. “You should just- just-“
Wilbur’s eyes harden but he doesn’t hurt Tommy or yell. His magic doesn’t lash out violently or even twitch in Tommy’s direction. He keeps the same sad smile.
“My Coven would love to have you,” Wilbur says. “Jinx or no Jinx. Promise on the void.”
He holds out a pinky finger, other hand holding the cigarette far away from Tommy. His eyes aren’t cold but Tommy doesn’t know if he trusts this.
It could be another ruse to lure him into a false sense of security so he can cut his heart out.
But someone as powerful as Wilbur wouldn’t need to lie. He’d just pull Tommy’s heart out with a simple finger twitch.
Tommy holds on his own pinky finger and Wilbur smiles at him like he’s something precious as they shake on it.
“Tommy,” he whispers. “I’m Tommy.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Tommy,” Wilbur replies. “I’m Wilbur. Let’s go meet Phil.”
He stands, offers his hand to help pull Tommy up from the grass. His vision swims and he knows he’s probably going to experience an adrenaline crash very soon.
“You can’t-“ Dream hisses, steps closer and Wilbur waves his hand in an almost casual manner.
The sky immediately darkens and the wind picks up. A low hissing starts as blackness spills from Wilbur’s fingers, staining the tips black.
Dream is thrown into a tree and the black tendrils from Wilbur’s fingers hook around his neck. He’s lifted up by the darkness as he thrashes, choking.
Sapnap and George step forward but Wilbur blows the void from his cigarette right at them and a creeping darkness winds around their ankles, holding them in place. The grass yellows and the flowers wilt where the void touches.
“I can’t what?” Wilbur asks, tilting his body to smile a harsh, wolffish smile at Dream. “Do tell me what I can and can’t do in my land?”
“Wilbur,” George breathes and Wilbur merely flicks his eyes over to George before sighing.
The black tendril around Dream’s neck unwinds and he collapses onto the dead grass, coughing and spluttering.
“Tommy,” Wilbur says, forcefully, “is now apart of my Coven. He’s mine. So think very carefully about what you say next.”
Both Sapnap and George remain quiet as Dream rolls over to gulp in oxygen.
Wilbur waits for a few moments and then nods. “That’s what I thought. Now, I suggest you start running because the minute I tell my Coven about this, they’re not going to be happy about you being on our land.”
“Where’s the border?” George asks and the void creeps back to Wilbur. Sapnap doesn’t hesitate to drop to Dream’s side. Wilbur doesn’t answer George’s question.
As for the void, it approaches Tommy instead. He stills as it swirls around him. Not touching, just observing.
He holds out a hand and the dark tendrils curl over his fingers, over his hand and wrist like a snake. It’s impossibly cold, like the chill of freshly formed ice but not biting.
He smiles at it and lifts his head when the silence stretches.
He’s met with Wilbur’s red gaze watching him curiously. Tommy immediately pulls his hand back, ducks his head. “Sorry,” he mutters. The tendrils prod at his chin as if to push his head up.
“I’ve never-” Wilbur breathes, with a mystified tone. He holds his hand out but the tendrils stubbornly prod at Tommy - gently, oh so gently - until he lifts his head. “Oh, leave him be.”
Tommy snorts at the way Wilbur’s own magic seems to be more obsessed with him.
“I don’t think it wants to,” he replies and Wilbur hums.
He clicks his fingers and the cigarette disappears from his fingers. He then waves his hand out as if he’s drawing a semi-circle.
The void shifts from Tommy, tendrils lapping over each other until a black hole forms.
Wilbur looks over at the Witches. All he says is, “Run.”
The black hole slips forward and falls atop them. Tommy flinches at the sudden darkness, fear curling high in his throat. The fear does not last long, however, as the black hole pulls back over them and Tommy finds himself in a giant living room.
He stares at the chandelier with wide eyes, mouth gaping open in awe.
“Wil,” someone says and Tommy jumps, spinning around to he faced with a small woman, light pink hair falling out of the ponytail. Her eyes are shaped by sharp winged-eyeliner but she looks kind. “Have you kidnapped a boy? Because Phil isn’t going to be impressed.”
“East corner,” Wilbur says, calmly, hands shoved into his coat pockets. The void dissipates instantly. “Dream started one of his manhunts for Tommy. I got there just as he was about to cut out his heart.”
If Tommy thought Niki was kind, the sudden shift in her demeanour makes him reconsider his earlier thoughts.
Her eyes narrow, red glow to her eyes and hands. “Really?” She breathes and it takes a second for Tommy to realise what the red glow means.
A Chaos Witch.
Tommy is standing in front of a Chaos Witch.
“They were close to the border,” Wilbur continues. “So if you want to beat Techno there, I’d start hunting now.”
Niki grins, eyes burning that pulsing, vibrant red. “It’s nice to meet you, Tommy,” she says. “But I have something I have to do.”
With that, she holds her hand out and the red from her fingertips grows into that of a red portal. Tommy can see the trees through it and hear the sound of running feet, of twigs snapping.
Niki’s grin widens as she steps through, the portal closing behind her.
Tommy blinks, turning to Wilbur, who laughs at his bewildered expression. “Welcome to the Dark Coven, Toms,” he says, ignoring the way Tommy blinks at the new nickname. “It smells like Niki’s been baking again.”
Only then does it hit Tommy.
The Dark Coven.
He’s in the Dark Coven’s house, he’s standing in their living room.
“Well,” Wilbur says to him. “After you have some of Niki’s bread, I’ll see if I can hunt Phil down for a formal introduction. Please don’t pass out on me.”
Tommy, utterly bewildered, follows dutifully behind him, into the kitchen where a fresh loaf sits on the counter.
(Tommy does eat Niki’s bread. It’s the best fucking bread he’s ever eaten in his life.)