The wheels of fate have begun to move, and the time for Jin to learn about his past has come.
"Who are you and why are you following me?" asked Jin.
The man in the shadows has finally come out. He is about 45 years old and has long black hair and green eyes. He wears a white shirt, black pants, and a black coat. He also wears white gloves in his hands.
"Who am I? It doesn't really matter right now. The reason that I followed you is to tell you the truth about your origin."
"'The truth about my origin?!' what do you mean?"
"What I mean is that your life until now is a lie. Your parents aren't Max and Sophia. They adopted you."
"What?! You expect me to believe that? A stranger who I just met tells me that my life is a lie and that I am adopted. Why should I believe you?"
"I expected to hear that from you Jin. So, I will show you the truth. Let us go to the past."
Suddenly the man started to move his hands closer together and began saying some kind of incantation. "Time obey my will, take us to the past, so the truth shall reveal!" When he finished the incantation, his hands touched, and a clap sounded. Suddenly a blinding light came out of his hands and then both of them vanished.
"Where are we? What is this place?" Jin asked in total shock.
They were both standing on a boat. Around them were images of events that happened in the years after the creation of the world and the boat was traveling in midair.
"This is a separate dimension where time can be manipulated. In this dimension, we can go wherever we want, past, present, or even the future. I could explain to you how this works, but this isn't why we are here. As you see we are heading somewhere. The place we are heading is your house 17 years ago."
An image of a house appeared and a blinding light came out of it.
"We are here.. Tell me what do you see?"
They had suddenly appeared in front of the window on the left side of the house.
"I see mom and dad, they are discussing something."
"Let's go inside."
"Won't they see us?"
"No. Nobody can see or hear us, we simply see the events that are about to unfold."
"Max, I am pregnant."
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"What?! For real?! I am going to be a father?!"
"Mom is pregnant!" Jin exclaimed.
"Yes but the baby is not you, Sophia is pregnant with your little sister, Emily."
"So they already had me?" Jin asked.
"Let's go outside the house."
They walked to the front door.
"What do you see?"
"A woman, I can't see her face, she is placing a basket in the front door. There is a baby inside the basket."
"That baby is you Jin. Sophia and Max decided to adopt you and from that moment you became part of their family."
Jin sees his parents reading the letter and deciding his name.
"Now that you learned the truth let us return to the present."
And with a clap of his hands, the man returned both of them to where they were standing before the time travel began.
"Now that we are back I have some questions, first if I'm not their son then who am I and where do I come from?" Jin asked in a serious tone.
"You are a descendant of the Ryouji, the royal family who rules the Kingdom of Etherran that exists in another dimension. You are the next in line for the throne."
"What?! I am a prince?! Who is the Ryouji family and what do you mean by saying the kingdom exists in another dimension?" Jin asked in total confusion.
"Ryouji is one of the 3 most powerful royal families in a world that exists in a separate dimension called Elter, but that is not all. There are some problems in the family. Sano Ryouji is the next in line for the throne after you, so he plans to kill you to take the throne."
"Why hasn't he done anything until now?"
"He did not know you were still alive. You see he tried to kill you and your mother when you were still a baby. When your mother and you visited this country, he had your escort try to kill you, but your mother managed to save you. Then she compelled your escort to tell him that you died in a horrible fire. To protect you she had to leave you to another family."
"What happened to her?"
"Nobody knows except your uncle who died yesterday. Your uncle took the throne until you were ready, but unfortunately, he died yesterday, and in his will, he says that you are alive. So, you are the next king.
"Wait can't you go back in time and follow that woman that we saw leaving me at the front door? She might lead us to my mother."
"There are limits to my power. I can only go back in time when I interact with an object or person that was present at that time. For example, we were able to get back in time to that day because I anchored the spell to you since you were present there. Also, your mother had placed a spell on herself so that none will be able to go to the past and find out what happened to her even if they somehow got to you."
"I see. Then what about my father?"
"He died when you were still a baby."
The man thought, Jin, sorry but you can't know the whole truth yet.
"What can I do to protect myself and my family from that guy? I do not have the power to stand against him."
"Why do you think I am here? The reason I came is to teach you and make you strong so that you can beat Sano and free the kingdom from his terror."
"When do we start the training...? Ehm... You haven't told me your name."
"You can call me Reizo and training starts tomorrow after school. We will meet in the deserted factory on the other side of town."
While stroking his chin the Reizo said "I believe that it is time for me to go." and with a clap of his hands, he vanished.
"He disappeared! He must tell me how he does that. I won't ask why he does it, he probably thinks that makes him cool. That guy..."
Jin thought, I better get going, Emily is waiting for me at the bus station.
"There you are Jin. What happened?" asked Emily.
"Sorry, I met a friend and we started talking. I lost track of time."
"Well better late than never. Oh Look Jin, there's the bus!"
So, with this meeting, the adventure of Jin begins. The path won't be easy, but he must walk it if he wants to protect his loved ones from an enemy he didn't choose but he must fight.