The War raged on, a battle for all
But in the end, a Kingdom had to fall

'Guys... Has anyone seen Vikram around? I haven't seen him since we were in the forest' Rob asked, confusion lacing his voice as the group stopped 'He said he was going to find Noah and Amelia' Kenny replied, picking up a dull stone and flicking it a few feet ahead.
'Amelia's gone missing?!' The Truncatis Prince screeched, eyes wide 'How did I not notice?! Oh my gods, I'm the worst Brother in the entire world'
'Don't be so harsh on yourself, Rob. They probably just wandered off while-' Preston stopped, turning around to see three figures emerging from the dense bushes 'See? I told you they were going to be okay... Wait. Something's wrong'
One of the figures stumbled as they got closer to the group before collapsing, causing the other two to panic.
'Guys! What happened?' Lachlan yelped, rushing towards the smaller group 'What happened to Vik?!'

'He kept Void-Travelling, it used so much energy he passed out,' Noah explained, an anxious and guilty look on his face 'He saved me after I said all that stuff...'
Amelia put an arm around the boy, trying to prevent him from bursting into tears in front of everyone 'He'll be fine, Noah. I promise, and I never break my promises'
'Uh-huh' The conscious Void Prince nodded slowly, taking a deep breath 'I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm just - Oh my God what if he dies?! I've been so selfish!'
'No, no. You were the one who protected him'

'He'll be fine, he just needs some rest. I think we all do' Robert cast an eye across the group, seeing various injuries no one had noticed beforehand 'Lachlan, how far away is the Aether Kingdom?'
'About a mile. We should be able to get there by nightfall'
'Someone needs to carry Vikram though. I would, but I think I would drop him'
'I tried carrying him on the way here, but I'm not strong enough'
'I vote Lachlan carries him!' The Truncatis Prince blurted out, and his tall Australian friend sent a slight glare in his direction 'Why me?!'
'Because Noah's too emotionally distraught, Amelia's tried already, it was Preston's idea-'
'Then why doesn't he carry him?' Preston sighed, dragging a hand down his face 'I don't really trust myself while holding stuff, I'm quite... Let's go with clumsy'
'Besides, you knew him when you were kids' Noah spoke quietly, still holding onto Amelia's arm as if when he let go, he would fall 'And we need to get going if we're to get to the Aether before nightfall'
'Fine! Let's just get this over and done with before he wakes up' The Aether Prince groaned, picking up the unconscious boy with surprising gentleness and carrying him on his back, piggyback style 'Let's go'
The group started to head North, with the sky turning darker and darker every minute until Amelia stopped 'Guys, since Preston's a lava creeper hybrid... He gives out light, correct?'

Everyone looked to the back of the group and saw the Texan quietly muttering to Kenny, before he stopped and looked up 'Why's everyone looking at me? I didn't do anything, I swear' He joked, though he sounded nervous 'They were talking about it getting way too dark, then figured that you give out light,' Robert explained 'It was Amelia's idea'
'I said nothing!' The Princess laughed, running around in circles as Noah pulled a face 'Is she always like this? She's way more hyper than usual' Amelia sighed before slowing down 'I don't know... I guess humor's my coping mechanism, because I'm actually pretty scared right now'
'Why? You have been out of the Castle before... Right?'
'Of course! Just... Never at night' She confessed, looking down slightly as her Brother nodded 'She sneaks out a lot. I've never really been outside the Kingdom unless it was for a special meeting or something' The others in the group looked at the Truncatis Royals in shock 'What? But you guys are amazing in Battle, how do you fight so well?!' Kenny exclaimed, and Amelia shrugged 'I'm okay at my...what do I call them? Abilities? Yeah. So I use those as an advantage, and Rob's always been good at Archery and Swordfighting I guess'
'Mostly Archery. My friend used to teach me before he was promoted to the Royal Cavalry, I've never actually seen him since' The Canadian probably said more, but his Sister had noticed the dark shape sneaking past their area.

They grew closer, staying silent due to their... Let's call it a disability for now, shall we? They tried their hardest not to be seen or heard, slipping past the Team... Until the ground beneath them began to shake, dark green vines sprouting from the earth and wrapping around their leg as they let out a non-existant scream, struggling to free themself as a vaguely familiar girl came closer, slowly making her way towards the stranger until she gasped, hazel eyes sparkling 'Nathan?! How did you - Oh my Lords, you're bleeding!' The vines started to slowly retract, causing all the blood pooling in the boy's head to spread through his bloodstream as he stumbled 'I'm so sorry, if I'd known it was you then I wouldn't have done that. How did you manage to get out of the Dungeons?'
The green-eyed boy shrugged, opening his mouth to reply before shutting it and shaking his head 'What's wrong? Why won't you - No. Oh no. They didn't...?' She made a strange motion next to her throat, and the boy confirmed it with a slight nod of his head 'Oh, Sub... I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you go and now they've done this to you!' The boy's eyes widened as he shook his head again, his expression showing sadness and concern as he tried to form the words "Please don't get upset"

Nathan "Sub" Byte, a close yet secret friend of the Truncatis Princess. They first met outside the Castle Gates when Amelia ran into the Guard, who was apparently looking for her as she had "Gone Missing"
They've been good friends ever since, but the young Guard has recently been kidnapped by the Ignis Kingdom. With his brown hair and average height, he fits in well with his family and Kingdom, but his vibrant green eyes confused his relatives as they all had chocolate brown.

'Does it hurt a lot? Sorry, stupid question. I can't believe you actually managed to escape!' Amelia rambled, and Sub facepalmed 'Sorry, I'm just really excited right now. Nobody knew where you went, and when I found out I spent months trying to-' She was cut off when the Guard quickly hugged her, causing the Princess to tense before wrapping her arms around his torso 'I missed you, Nathan'
'Amelia! You really need to - Who are you, and what are you doing with my Sister?!' Prince Robert's voice changed drastically as he strode forwards, causing the two friends to jump apart 'Oh hey Robert! This is-'
'Are you okay? Did he hurt you?' The Prince asked his sibling, who crossed her arms 'If you'd let me explain, then I could tell you that Sub's my friend and would probably never hurt me' Nathan nodded rapidly in agreement, making sure to keep a safe distance away from the now silver-eyed Prince *His eyes have never been silver before... What's going on?* The wind started to pick up around the Trio, and multiple pairs of curious eyes watched from the bushes.

'What're they doing?'
'I don't know!'
'Kenny, move your butt'
'My butt is fabulous, thank you very much. Anyway, who's the new guy? He looks familiar' Leaves swirled in mini tornadoes around the group, and Lachlan took a few steps back 'Something's not right, he's never acted like - What the Hell?!'
Small clouds separated from the main ones in the sky, with lightning flashing from their darkened innards 'You don't know that! He could literally stab you in the back, you don't know what it's like to have someone close to you die and-'
'Don't you dare make assumptions, Brother' The Princess growled, narrowing her eyes as the unknown spies all stood back 'Wow... He's seriously protective of his Sister' Noah commented, before looking at his unconscious Brother and sighing 'I was never-'
'Noah, you've tried your hardest to be a good sibling-' The Void Prince had insisted that he would carry Vikram, and even though he struggled, he would never let anyone else touch his Brother.
Except Lachlan.
For some reason.
'-And he's always cared about you, ever since you were a baby. He's always been busy because he didn't want to annoy you, that's why he kept away'
'He's my Brother, I'm pretty sure it's his job to annoy me' The younger boy sassed, his mood lifting as they continued to talk.

A small "Thud" interrupted their happiness, and Preston turned just in time to see a lightning bolt his the tree right next to his head 'Uhhh...Guys?' He squeaked, not taking his eyes off the somehow solid electricity infront of his face 'What's - Oh my God!' Kenny screeched, alerting anyone within a thirty meter radius about the issue 'How did that even - How is it - What?!' Lachlan exclaimed, peering closely at the rod as a small spark flew onto his nose 'Mother of-'
'Language! Let's keep it PG, shall we? We wouldn't want anything to happen to the Truncatis children' A voice Preston found scarily familiar spoke from the shadows, soon followed by a pair of blazing amber eyes as the King of Ignis pulled the hood of his cloak down 'What do you want, you monstrous sinner' Vikram growled, now awake but incredibly tired and weak 'My my, such big words from such a petite boy' The man taunted, taking a few steps towards them as Prince Robert joined the small group 'What're you doing here King Arsement' The Canadian snarled, and the older Royal snorted 'What, can't a man see his Son now and then?'
'Nobody here is the spawn of you, you demon' Lachlan spat, but Preston's heartrate sped up *They can't find out, they can't find out they - can't - find - out - they - can't -*
'Preston, did you ever tell your "friends" about your past? Anything about your life?'
'Of course he did! His name's Preston Arsement, and he's - Oh my Lords'
'Is there anything you want to tell us, Preston?' Noah asked, narrowing his eyes as everyone took a step back from the Texan 'I don't know what-what he's t-talking about' The fire Prince's voice shook when he finally spoke, and his Father simply rolled his eyes 'Just tell them, boy. They already despise you, just make it easier and come back home'
Preston thought about it, a dark feeling clawing at his heart. What if they really did hate him? What if it was all just an act? What if- 'Are you going to tell them or am I? Preston's my disappointment of a Son, heir to the Ignis throne. Did he not tell you that? Oh well. I'll let you all have some alone time' He vanished in a blast of fire, and his Son was suddenly bombarded with questions.
'Are you actually the Ignis Prince?'
'I thought we could trust you!'
'I can't believe none of us saw it sooner'
'When were you planning to turn on us?!'
'Why won't you answer us?!'
'Stop it!' Preston screamed, pressing his hands to his head 'Just stop it, please!' Those were the last words the group heard from him before he ran.

They had no idea what they had just done.