It was kind of annoying how it had taken him years to understand half of what those kids now knew. Kind of but not really. He knew they were the chosen ones. His brother had explicitly told him so, but what had frustrated him for so long, seemed to come so easily to them. 

 

That Yixing, especially. Since Minseok hadn't been all that interested in his powers or the legend until he had come to live with them last year. Then the two became all about the snooping and studying and barrage of questions that Jonathan still had no answers to. He had been born on this world. Years after his brother. Decades after the landing. Centuries after the supposed battle. And he'd never learned the ancient language. So their guess was as good as his. 

 

But he had owned the chest containing the robe the book and the small mirror since he'd moved to this place. Did the robe have magical properties? Was the mirror just a mirror? He was beginning to suspect it wasn't. Considering the time those boys spent with it these days. The book would have been the most useful item if only they could read it. The only person Jonathan knew who could have, was now dead. Murdered he believed. By that bastard Toshi. But he couldn't prove it. It had been labeled a car accident. Yes, how convenient. Russell and his wife burned up in their car while he'd been watching Minseok. No bodies for evidence. So he didn't even have the comfort of knowing they were actually dead. 

 

*

 

 "They're gone, Minseok. They really are. I'm sorry." He put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. The young man's eyes were teary and he held his head down. As if in defeat. 

 

*

 

So now he had to take care of these two. Felt as if it were his job. Or what he'd been born to do. Even though they were old enough to take care of themselves, he was still Minseok's uncle, so he would do whatever he could to help and protect them. Even if it meant going up against Toshi or anyone else that came along.