It would be a few days before Joshua and the others decided to head back to the capitol, having stayed around the eastern side of the kingdom to make sure that Brian and the others kept their promise. Before they left, Joshua headed back to the site of N's house only to find a large clearing and a small care package waiting for them.

"Hm," said Joshua as he looked around the clearing. "He could teleport the entire house?" Asked Mingyu as he looked at Joshua. "According to Kris, yes," said Joshua. "There's still a lot we don't know about the kingdom of VIXX," he said. "But I assume that it's not the only thing he can do," he said. "I wonder what kind of stuff they left for us?" Asked Mingyu.

"Let's see," said Joshua as he went to see. "Let's hope they left some food for the two starving people," he said. "Oi," said Sungcheol. "You two need to eat," said Chan as Joshua brought out some food and threw it at Sungcheol and Jeonghan. "We'll leave after you eat," he said. "You need all the energy you can get," said Joshua.

"At least tell us how you had this all planned the entire time?" Asked Sungcheol as he sat down and started eating with Jeonghan doing the same thing. "Well," said Joshua as he turned to Mingyu.

"It had been Joshua's idea," said Mingyu as he shrugged. "He gave me a temporary orb that would disappear as soon as I summoned it," he said. "But he would know where we were the entire time, if we were captured," he said. "Wait," said Chan. "Is that why you were going this close to the borders?" He asked as he turned to Joshua. Joshua nodded.

"It was a test really," he said. "To see if it would actually work," he added. "But now that we know that it works, our recon missions could work well in our favor now that I know I can keep an eye on Mingyu," he said. "Did they know?" Asked Minhyuk. "No," said Joshua. "Which was why I played dumb," he said.

"So that's why you acted broken," said Sungcheol. "I was able to make the chains hot enough to snap off," said Mingyu. "However I had to keep up the image of being broken so that Joshua could keep an eye on us, and them," he said. "Why didn't you do something earlier?" Asked Jeonghan. "They were listening in," said Mingyu.

"Where's Minhyuk in all this?" Asked Sungcheol as he turned to Minhyuk. "Well," said Minhyuk. "I was able to talk to Mingyu," he said. "He told me everything, and I sought out Joshua while I gave them the impression that I was heading into town for groceries," he said. "It was a little bit before Chan got captured," he said.

"Oh," said Chan. "That's why you disappeared for an hour," he said. Joshua nodded. "N is a good guy, a bit misguided but a good guy," he said. "I didn't want him to think I knew however, but it seems Hyuk told him," he said.

"Why didn't you get to us sooner?" Asked Sungcheol. "I was injured," said Joshua. "And I couldn't just go into the basement and get you out with how injured I was," he said.

"I think Mingyu mentioned something," said Jeonghan. "Just as Chan was brought in," he said. "Yeah, I said that he was injured," said Mingyu. "It only made it more possible since you and Chan were together when we got separated," he said.

"I tried to get to you," said Joshua. "But I couldn't do much with what had been happening," he said. "You were pretty injured," said Mingyu. "It's understandable," he said. "How badly?" Asked Jeonghan. "I didn't get a good look when we were attacked but," said Chan. "He was slammed into a tree by a wolf who was barreling at him at full speed," he said.

"Kihyun didn't mean to slam into you so hard," said Minhyuk as he scratched the back of his head. "I know," said Joshua. "I could tell even then that he was trying to hesitate," he said. "With his large size though, slowing down was almost impossible at that point," he said. "And he managed to deflect some of it by managing to move a few inches to the right thus causing only bruised ribs," he said. "If he had fully headbutted me I think I would've at least gotten some broken ribs, if not even a punctured lung," he said.

"Well, enough of this," said Sungcheol as he finished eating. "We should start heading back then," he said. "I found this too," said Joshua as he tossed Mingyu, Chan, Sungcheol and Jeonghan their pocketwatches. "Alright," said Sungcheol. "Let's go then," he said. Everyone soon started walking, heading back to the capitol.
 

~

They reached the capitol after a few days, going slower due to Jeonghan and Sungcheol still not being at full strength. After talking to the queen and made sure that they would have a few days off Joshua and Sungcheol headed back home together.

"Rose?" Called Joshua as he entered the apartment. "Hello Joshua, Sungcheol," said Rose as she walked out of the kitchen. "Uncles!" Said Jongdae and Chanyeol as they ran over and hugged Joshua and Sungcheol respectively. "Hey you two," said Joshua as he tousled Jongdae's hair. Sungcheol picked up Chanyeol and grinned at him. "Hello Chanyeol," he said.

"Uncle! We made a new friend!" Said Jongdae. "Oh?" Asked Joshua. "A new family moved in next door," said Rose. "Their son, Kyungsoo is a year younger than them but they get along just fine," she said. Joshua smiled. "It's good they finally made a new friend," he said.

"Uncle, what happened to your finger?" Asked Chanyeol as he finally noticed half a missing middle finger. "Ah," said Sungcheol as he put Chanyeol down. "It was an accident," he said. "With the sword?" Asked Chanyeol. Sungcheol nodded. "This is why we tell you to be careful when handling anything sharp," said Joshua. Jongdae nodded. "Okay," said Chanyeol.