A brother’s love

'Could Mom and Dad still be alive?'

This single thought made Leo's heart beat even faster than it already did. But he soon realized that he and his brother always knew what their parents looked like, their names and the times they spent together. Which means that they were really dead.

Leo let out a painful sigh after reassuring himself of his parents' deaths.

'But what does it all mean. Who is taking these people and more importantly, how are the memories of those left behind altered to not notice the changes around.'

Just then, he realized that his boss, Mr. Edward's family was also missing. Whenever he went to the house, he never met his wife or even his kids, but he always had the impression that he had met them and even eaten with them in the past.

'But then if Mr. Edward lived alone, who made the meals at home, who cleaned up the house, who kept his bed warm and who made his house feel like a home.'

But in truth Mr. Edward was not aware of his missing family but deep down felt alone whenever he was at the house and this was why he preferred spending time at the restaurant.

Despite all the things that was going on in Leo's head, he felt excited and somewhat alive, because all his fantasies were never real, but right now he was realizing the impossible.

'But none of these explains how I survived the knife wound. Could I be an immortal?'

Leo shook his head as he felt that he was now overthinking. Leo kept thinking and murmuring to himself for several minutes.

[KOM]

The gentle tap of Jax's hand on Leo's head was enough to disrupt Leo's thoughts and make him snap out of it. He raised his head to see that Jax was already standing beside him with a worried look on his face.

"Leo. You've been acting weird all day. Are you sure you're ok?"

Leo was moved by how much his brother cared for his well-being.

"I'm ok Jax"

He patted his younger brother on the head.

"It's just that I was a little stressed out at work after the incident that occurred"

Jax quickly recalled the story and felt selfish for not realizing the effect it had on his brother.

"Well then, I guess I have to play the role of the adult and make sure that you are relaxed"

Jax began cracking his knuckles as Leo watched him and wondered what he planned to do to him.

"Wait here"

Jax quickly got up and dashed into the bathroom.

'What is that boy planning?"

Jax came out of the bathroom almost immediately holding a small lotion bottle. Leo smiled at Jax hinting that he was now aware of his brother's plan. Jax decided to put up the act of a showman in order to entertain Leo before getting down to his real plan.

"TONIGHT!! JAX THE WIELDER OF THE GIFTED HANDS SHALL HEAL THE BODY OF THE WOUNDED LEO."

Jax was about to give Leo a full body massage to help relax his body. He held the lotion bottle like a microphone, speaking into it while shouting at the top of his voice to mimic that of a showman.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Leo in turn was screaming and cheering for his brother while jumping up in his seat like a monkey. The brothers were truly behaving immature at this point. Leo's mind drifted away from his immediate worries. He was excited to receive a massage from his brother and he didn't even try to hide it.

Moments later…

Leo laid on the couch face down with his two arms crossed beneath his head. His whole body stretched out as he enjoyed the gentle massage of his brother that seemed to relieve him of stress.

"Have you thought about becoming a chiropractor or even a masseuse"

Jax couldn't help but laugh at Leo. As he laughed, Leo twisted to take a look at his brother and try to understand why he was laughing.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Ki Ki Ki. You said masseuse"

Leo still did not understand how that would make him laugh.

"And what's funny about that"

Jax calmed himself down as he gave Leo his explanation.

"A man cannot be a masseuse"

Leo interrupted him

"How can you say that, the job can be done by both the male and female gender, it's nothing to be ashamed of"

"No bro, you are missing the point. A masseuse is used when describing a female massage therapist"

Leo squinted his eyes as if trying to doubt his brother and at the same time doubt himself.

"Then what do you call a male massage therapist?"

"A masseur"

Leo had no idea of this and was not ready to accept what his brother said without proof. So he did what anybody would do in his position. He googled it.

"Oh…hahaha"

Leo let out a sheepish chuckle upon realizing that his brother was right.

"You are smarter than I thought. You have gained my respect sire"

Leo already seated bowed his head down to his brother. Jax did not miss out on the opportunity to act kingly.

"Ok my humble servant. Now fetch me the royal juice from thy frosty box of ice:"

Leo gave Jax a scary glare

"Don't push it"

"Yes sir"

They both started laughing again.

"Thank you for the massage and the lesson Jax. I'm sure that you would become a fine young man. Just promise me that you would never stray from the right path"

Jax couldn't help but smile as he assured Leo of his decision to become a great man by doing the right thing. They both stayed up late into the night having fun and displaying their unique brotherly bond. Eventually, Jax fell asleep in the living room with Leo still wide awake. Leo sat next to him and stared at the sleeping Jax.

"I'll never abandon you for any reason. It's always been the two of us since Mom and Dad died. You've always given me the strength I needed to continue pushing forward and because of that, I have faith that everything will be okay. Thank you Jax. I love you"

Jax was lying down with his back to Leo and a smile could be seen forming on his face as Leo was talking. But soon after, the smile disappeared showing that he had really falling asleep.

Leo carried his little brother up to his room and tucked him in his bed.

"Good night Jax"

He turned around to leave the room while switching off the room's light.

"Good night Leo"

Leo turned with a surprised look on his face, he thought that Jax was still awake, but immediately realized that Jax was talking in his sleep. He smiled and closed the door.

He walked over to his room. He was in a very happy mood, having spent quality time with his brother. The moment he walked into his room, he quickly jumped on his bed and laid down with his face in the pillow.

"I'm soo tired. I better get some rest."

He turned around, his eyes looking up and raising his right hand as if trying to reach for the ceiling. He inspected the tattoo and again could not make out any of the words that formed the tattoo. The tattoo ran around his arm like two snakes that crossed each other as they made their way from his shoulder down to his wrist.

"This tattoo might be scary, but I have to admit that it looks pretty good"

He laughed

"Wait. What's this?"

Words on one spot of his arm that he was sure he couldn't read before were now clearly understandable to him. He brought his arm closer to his eyes to make out the words.

"A WEAK BODY, A SMALL MIND. TO ENHANCE THYSELF…"

He twisted his arm a little bit to see the last part.

"THE GATE SHALL BE AWAKENED"

At that very moment, Leo's eyes began glowing with a bright golden color which gave him a Godly appearance.