The attack soon came, and their Sons started to cry
But they couldn't retaliate, no matter what they would try

'Landon?! Landon, where are you?!' Lachlan called, searching for his Brother as they made their way through the forest 'He could've gone back to the Castle. We should go and check there instead' Rob suggested, and the Australian sighed 'I guess... What if he really was taken to Ignis, though? What if I never see him again?! I made a promise I would protect him, then I go and-'
'Woah, Lachlan, calm down. Just breathe, it's okay. We will find your Brother. I swear on everything I've ever loved' Vik tried to soothe him, grabbing the taller's arm and making him turn around 'I promise' He repeated, staring right into the Aether Prince's dull blue eyes.
'O-Okay'

A few feet away, Amelia was leaning against a tree. She wondered why the two could go from biting each other's heads off to comforting if one of them was worried or injured in an instant, and thought about small scenarios.
"They used to be in a relationship? No, they would act more awkward around each other. Possibly long-lost best friends who were separated? Not quite... What if-"
Her train of thought crashed when she started tilting to the left, before trying to correct herself too quickly and falling backwards 'You've got to be kidding me!' The Princess yelped as she fell into a bush.
Covered in thorns.
Nice one.
'May I ask why you're in the bush?' Noah laughed, extending a hand for the Truncatis girl as she playfully glared at him 'Oh, you know. Just chilling' She grinned sarcastically, accepting the Void Prince's aid as she was pulled up 'Just saying, you've got a great sense of humor for a Princess'

'Just my ace personality. So you've met other girls who've just been the usual "in it for, like, the money" scenario?'
'You have no idea. My parents keep trying to find me a wife and it's getting seriously annoying "Oh Noah! Look at this lovely girl" or "Noah, I've found you a date!" That's why I wasn't with the adults when the first attack in the Aether hit' The boy sighed and raked a hand through his dark brown locks, before shaking his head and smiling 'Anyway. Why did you fall into a thorn bush? I'm pretty sure that's not a normal thing to do in your free time'
'Oh no, I fall in bushes all the time back home!' Amelia responded sarcastically, a smile creeping onto her face 'I was just thinking about stuff, like what we do now'
'What do you mean? We go back to the Aether, find our parents then...' He trailed off, an annoyed expression growing in his face 'We have to go home'
'And y'know what that means?'
'We'll go back to living our "normal" lives, possibly not seeing each other again'
'Bingo' The two walked in silence, occasionally splitting to dodge a small bush and absentmindedly wandering away from the others before eventually stopping 'We're lost, aren't we,' Noah said flatly, looking around 'Looks like it. Do the surroundings look familiar?'

'I don't know! The only time I've been out of the Castle walls is the time I get lost, how worse can life get?!' The Void Prince yelled, before he froze 'Amelia...?'
'What?'
'Run. Run, and don't look back'
'Why?!' She protested, then she saw what Noah had noticed and squeaked 'What the Hell? It looks like a massacre!' Infront of them was a burning tree village, with corpses scattered over the ground 'Who would do something like this...'
'Whoever did had a grudge against Bacca's by the look of things. This was one of their main villages,' Noah looked back at his companion 'Bacca's are just like humans. They have towns, Kingdoms, everything we do. The only difference is that they're covered in fur'

'And they're merciless killers' A new voice spoke up, and the two Royal's whipped around to see a boy around their age with a white hoodie, golden eyes and light brown hair 'Really? I heard Bacca's were usually quite peaceful' The Void Prince said, taking a small step back to Amelia's side 'You can't always trust books y'know. They're just stories, created to tell children in the hopes of making them fall asleep'
'Wait...did you do this?' Amelia asked, trying to act confident though her heart was thudding under the white t-shirt covering her torso, fingering the hoodie around her waist nervously 'Who wants to know?' The boy retaliated, narrowing his almost hypnotizing eyes 'We asked first'
'I asked second. But if you insist, yes I did partake. It wasn't all me. There's a group of Hunters along the path that came here a few hours ago. It was quite entertaining to be honest' He said it as if they were just talking in the market, not standing on the outskirts of a burning civilization 'That's just wrong. They had lives before you killed them!' The Princess yelled in shock 'Someone's a feisty little girl'

'I am not a little girl! Coming from you, that's quite hypocritical since I'm about two inches taller than you. Yes I could tell that from standing here, I've had practice' The unknown newcomer snorted and shook his head 'Whatever. Why do you care about them anyway? You didn't even know what they were, you had to get your boyfriend to tell you' Both the Royals exchanged glances 'We're not-'
'Not even close'
'No chance of that happening'
'What gave you that idea?'
'Due to the fact you're nervous about it, you either are together or just want to. Which is it?'
'Neither! He's my friend, I wouldn't....That's just weird' Noah nodded rapidly in agreement, and the unknown boy rolled his eyes 'Sure you don't fancy him'
'I don't like her that way!' Noah growled, black mist starting to flow from his hands "Note to self; don't make Noah angry. Got it" 'Noah?' Amelia squeaked, watching as the jet fog started to spill onto the ground 'Oh~ I've never seen a Voidblood before! Okay, that's a lie, technically speaking I am one... Eh. I'm Rueben, though I usually go by another name'

'You're that escapee from the Dungeons a few years back!' The Truncatis girl gasped, eyes wide 'How did you get out? I swear we had our best guards in the job!' By this time, Noah had noticed what he was doing and was frantically waving his hands around, muttering "Get off"s and "Stupid Void Mist!"
'You did something to them...' The Princess racked her brain for the knowledge, but it was just out of reach 'Forgotten already, Princess? I was your best friend, remember? Have you already left me behind?' He taunted, a fake look of hurt on his face as he started circling her 'You... You were the Trickster!'
'Ten points to the girl who finally remembered me!' Rueben fake-clapped, the noise seemingly amplified by the dull crackling of embers in the background 'You were the one who tried to assassinate my Brother' The hazel-eyed girl narrowed her orbs, watching her opponents every move incase he made an attack "Remember what Choco taught you... Remember what-"
Rueben tackled her to the ground, and the two went sprawling 'You told them all about me, Princess. You said I could trust you. That just shows how you can never trust anyone!'

'You trust the people you love, Trickster' She spat, bringing her legs up to her chest and kicking out blind, hitting her attacker and knocking him to the ground before scrambling up and pulling her hoodie off 'Noah, hold my hoodie'
'On it' Amelia started to concentrate on the ground, imagining thick roots springing up and creating a wall before willing it to happen, focusing so hard she momentarily forgot how to breathe and gasped for air as the wood rose up, creating the woven dome she'd pictured 'Amelia! Are you okay?' Noah asked worriedly, trying to break through as she sat down and nodded shakily 'Y-Yeah! Just...Out of breath' She replied, making her way over to the Prince and grinning weakly 'How're you holding up? The mist thing looked very... Intense'

'Yeah... It only happens when I get very frustrated, Vikram can do it too but he can actually use his as a power while I...' He sighed, looking down 'Noah. Back at the Aether Castle, you said something about Vikram not believing in you?'
'Yup. Whenever I actually do something right, I go to show him but he just brushes it off, saying he'll talk with me later. It's like he doesn't even notice I'm there half the time!' He choked on the last few words, furiously wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve 'Listen to me. Your Brother cares a lot about you, remember when you were about to go through the hole in the door? He said, and I quote "Noah, are you crazy?! You could get impaled on the wood, then what would we do?!"'
'He could've been saying it to seem nice! He's hardly ever noticed what I've done before, why would he start now?!'

Little did the two younger Royals know, Vikram was listening to their conversation. He looked down at the ground, biting his lip with a guilty expression on his face 'I never knew you saw it that way...'