Prologue (1/2)

Prologue

Jaejoong was and had never been normal. He was born as a prince; heir to the throne of ruling over the warm and peaceful village of Rising Sun. Everyone adored and idolized the young prince, not that Jaejoong minded or anything. He enjoyed the warm love of the village people but hated the hopeful eyes they looked at him with. The fact that he wasn't the perfect prince they envisioned left a knotted bitter feeling within Jaejoong's stomach every time.

Ever since Jaejoong could remember, he had a special power. Somehow, Jaejoong was born with the rare genes of a sorcerer. His parents were perfectly normal humans. No one ever knew why Jaejoong was, as the village medic had described "cursed" with this power. His parents however called it a blessing and told Jaejoong that he was granted sorcery magic only because he would be able to do great things with it one day.

With a flick of a wrist, he could create magic like snow. The strange ability was exciting and fun for the five year old Jaejoong but when his little brother Yunho was born, his parents had warned him about the dangers that could happen. It was the first time his parents had ever spoken of his powers as a caution.

"Jae, you have a baby brother now. You mustn't use your powers so recklessly. You may be able to control them now but anything can happen. Just promise me you'll protect Yunho." Was what his mother had asked Jaejoong.

Of course during that time the thought of Jaejoong’s power hurting anyone was unthinkable. Jaejoong would've never expected the events that were to occur. So he smiled a big toothy grin at his mother and replied, "Of course mother. I would never hurt our precious Yunho."

~~~~~

It was late at night and Yunho was now an energetic child of five years when he sneaked into his older brother’s bedroom. Of course Yunho knew of Jaejoong's powers. It would be pointless for him not to know. Yunho remembered the first time his older brother showed him his sorcery. He was in his crib, unable to sleep and crying because of the lack of attention he was receiving. Jaejoong, like the best older brother he was, had come to the rescue and told him keep quiet for a second and just watch. It was the most incredible thing Yunho had ever seen. His brother's palm began to glow a bright swirl of blue and white and a glass like shape began to morph from the center of his palm. Yunho never forgot how beautiful it was. His parents had told him before that Jaejoong was blessed with a skill no one else had. He would've never imagined the powers to be so beautiful. The ice magic was certainly not the dangerous images he had in his mind. It was like a form of crystal art. He actually really adored his brother’s ability and always wished he could do the same.

So that’s how it started. Whenever Yunho couldn't sleep at night, he'd tip toe into Jaejoong's bedroom to play.

The tiny movements Yunho created as he climbed onto his brother's bed caused Jaejoong to startle awake. Jaejoong awoke to a pair of twinkling brown eyes full of adoration.

"Jae! The sky is awake so I'm awake too~ that means we have to play!!!!" Yunho reasoned, lying on top of Jaejoong who was still half asleep in the covers.

Jaejoong groaned and lightly shoved Yunho off of him. There was a soft thud as Yunho fell on the floor.

Yunho sulked and thought of another way to get his older brother to play with him. There was one way. It usually worked so Yunho scrambled back onto Jaejoong's bed.

"Jae! I can't sleep! Can we make a snowman? Pwease!" Yunho whispered pleadingly. He added puppy dog eyes for effect and bit his lip in anticipation.

Just one look at his baby brother's pleading face was enough for Jaejoong to give in. He had such a soft spot for Yunho! Jaejoong sighed and ruffled Yunho's brown locks.

"Alright, come on. We'll have to be quiet okay?" Jaejoong whispered back with a smile.

Yunho's face brightened instantly and he let out a little "yay!" and followed his brother out the room enthusiastically.

The two brothers hurriedly ran off into the main room, careful to not awake their parents sleeping in the room a few doors down. The main room of the castle was the largest and had the highest ceilings. Vast amounts of old portraits covered the walls and the only furniture placed in the room was an elongated burgundy couch and a grandfather clock.

As Jaejoong and Yunho entered the room and closed the door with a soft click, they instantly skipped to the middle of the floors whilst giggling in excitement.

"Ready?" Jaejoong grinned and poised his hands above his head in elegance. He tried to appear majestic in front of Yunho.

"Yes, yes! Jae!" Yunho jumped while flapping his arms in eagerness.

With a grand flick of his hands, Jaejoong summoned hills of white, powdery snow. The main room floor was instantly blanketed in snow and clouds that infinitely precipitated snow floated above them near the ceilings.

Yunho squealed in happiness and dove into the large mounds of white fluff. Jaejoong watched happily as Yunho rolled and played in the snow as if this was the best thing that could ever happen. He loved bringing happiness to his baby brother by using his magic because it made him feel as if their parent's words were actually true. That the sorcery was really a blessing not curse.

"Jae, Jae! Let's build a snow elephant together! Come on!" Yunho grabbed Jaejoong by the arm and pulled him toward the area of the floor that was covered in more snow than others.

"Alright! Slow down!" Jaejoong laughed as he followed his baby brother.

With another easy glide of the arm Jaejoong created a large ball of snow made from the nearby mounds and guided it over to Yunho's feet.

"There, now we have a good start for our snow elephant." Jaejoong said to Yunho with a smile.

"Thank you Jae!" Yunho beamed back and began working on the next part of the body.

Jaejoong loved these nights with his brother. There was a sense of freedom with his powers and most importantly, Yunho was happy.

Soon the two began stacking the body parts so that the snow balls formed a body for their elephant. The final part of the head was always made by Jaejoong and placed on top by Yunho so that both had equal parts in building it.

"Almost done!" Jaejoong said. He jutted out his tongue and concentrated on the snow in front of his outstretched hands. Slowly but surely, the ball of snow began molding into the shape of an elephant with the ears, trunk, and everything.

Once the head was complete, Yunho carefully placed the head on top.

Yunho giggled and cheered. "Yay! We did it! Popo is finished!"

"Popo seems happy too!" Jaejoong manipulated the snow elephant with his powers so that it made the elephant smile and move. He grabbed the branch arms of the snow elephant and crouched behind it so that it made the illusion of Popo being alive. "I'm Popo and I love warm hugs! Yunho, why don’t you give me one?"

"I do too Popo!" Yunho exclaimed in glee and gave the snow elephant a bear hug. Jaejoong grinned at the warm sight. "Come on Jae! Give him one too!"

"Alright, alright." Jaejoong laughed and he too hugged Popo with Yunho.

"Hey Jae! Watch me jump from this hill!" Yunho said as he released Popo and ran over to the largest pile of snow. "You'll catch me right?"

Jaejoong nodded and poised his hands. "Of course! Go on, jump!"

Yunho took the first leap and with ease Jaejoong summoned another mound in time for Yunho to land safely. They began playing the stair game for a while and Jaejoong kept with Yunho’s pace perfectly. It wasn't until Yunho started gaining speed, a little too dangerous and fast for Jaejoong to keep up.

"Come on Jae!" Yunho shouted, still hopping from one mound to the next.

"Yunho! Slow down! Slow down!"

"Jae, you're slow!"

It all happened at once. Jaejoong made a turn too quick on his foot and slipped. With horror, Jaejoong saw as Yunho leaped from the snow, oblivious to the fact that he had fallen.

"Yunho!" In a panic state, Jaejoong shot out a blast of magic to save him. But their timing was off. Instead of creating another step for Yunho's feet, it knocked the side of his head and Yunho’s head jerked sharply from impact. Jaejoong watched in terror as his baby brother fell onto the floor with an ugly thud. Yunho's body lay lifelessly in a heap on the bed of snow.