The boy believed the world was gone.
The journey had only just begun.

'So he was like this when you found him?' Kenny asked, and Sub nodded 'I was on duty when I saw it. I guess Preston actually did manage to take it down'
'Yes...but where is he? You did see him, right?'
'I don't know now. We would've found him if he wanted to be found, correct? Maybe he ran off again'
'It's possible...after the explosion, I thought I heard footsteps but I passed out before saying anything' The Ignis Guard sighed, dragging a hand through his short blond hair 'I'm gonna look for him. Don't tell the others why I'm gone'
'Got it' Nathan agreed, watching as his friend smiled 'Thanks, Nathan. Good luck to you too'
'I'm probably gonna need it. I'm going with the others to save Amelia' He pulled a face and laughed 'See you later...hopefully with Preston'

The two separated, with Kenny heading into the forest and Nathan running back to the others as the sun began to set '-going? Surely we should leave someone behind'
'Well...I don't know. I'm seriously confused about this kind of stuff'
'Let's just go, we shouldn't waste any more time' Noah spoke anxiously, his hands fiddling with the parts on his headset as he looked across the river 'I'm with Noah on this one. The longer Amelia's out there, the higher the change of her getting hurt' Robert sighed, raking a hand through his brown locks 'I shouldn't have yelled at her...'

'Technically you didn't' Lachlan pointed out 'I know. But I'm the older sibling, I should be the one making sure she's okay'
'It would be a bit difficult to be watching her while you're unconscious with a gash in your leg' The area started to darken as the Sun lowered even more, and Vikram glanced around nervously 'Shouldn't we get going? We need to find her before it gets dark'
'Alright. Lachlan, you're gonna take Vik and Noah-' the smaller group nodded 'And I'm taking Nathan and Kenny'
'Kenny went to do something. He didn't say what though' Sub responded, and the Truncatis Prince sighed 'Okay, I'm only taking Nathan. Any objections?' Vik fidgeted anxiously, and Lachkan turned to him 'Are you okay?'
'I'm...I'm fine. Getting Amelia back is-is the most important thing'
'Is it because of your...fear?' The mocha-skinned boy put a hand to his friends mouth, muttering a small 'We'll talk about this later'

Meanwhile

The figure grinned down at his prey, his mouth filled with unnaturally sharp teeth as he laughed 'Looks like we meet again, Princess. You should know by now, you can't escape your nightmares'
'Y-You're not real! You're just part of my imagination...' Amelia's voice wavered, and she slowly backed away 'Don't lie to yourself girl. You can't escape me, and you know I'm real. I was the monster under your bed, the one nobody believed about...except you'
He was a grotesque creature, around seven foot in height. This might seem tall for a human, but this abomination had the eight legs of a huntsback spider and the wings of a dark grey moth 'Why-Why are you here? And how?'
'When you know the True Prince, it's honestly quite easy. You see, young Jason's powers revolve around fear, allowing him to spawn a person's darkest phobia or nightmare' The Truncatis Royal took another step back, a tree blocking her way out 'Okay, th-that would make sense...but why are you actually here? Now that you know where I am, why not just leave?'

'That's obvious, Princess. Now that we're both here, I'm just going to kill you' He surged forwards on his furry legs, and the girl suppressed another scream 'Y-You don't scare me!'
'Oh, I think I do' His red eyes flashed, and his dark wings unfurled from his back "I'm dead I'm dead, so so dead"
The creature's mass seemed to weaken Truncatis' Princess, who whimpered and slid down the tree 'This is where I die...'

'Not today it's not!' A blast of fire knocked Amelia's Nightmare to the side, making it splutter curses in surprise 'Who did that?! Show yourself!' His voice changed drastically, and Amelia hugged her knees to her chest tightly 'That would've been me. Now back away from the girl' Footsteps neared her location, and she buried her head in her arms 'Hey. Are you alright?' There was something familiar about the boy's voice, and she looked up 'Who-Who are you?'
The boy shrugged, smoothing his black and orange hoodie 'That's not really important, but seriously. Are you okay?'
'I guess...Thanks. For saving me'
'No problem. We should go, whatever that thing was is literally running towards us right now' He pushed the monster back with another barrage of flames, causing it to hiss 'You'll pay for that, Ignis Prince!'
'Preston?!'
'Uh...Yes? We'll talk about it later, right now, we need to run' Preston grabbed his friend's hand and, without looking back, started to run through the thick fog 'What was that thing anyway?'
'I called it an Exterreri, meaning nightmare. That's literally what it is. When I was younger, I used to have bad dreams about that thing and somehow, it found me. As I got older it appeared less frequently until it left completely, but now it's managed to come back again and - why aren't you a lava creeper anymore?'
'I honestly have no idea. I was just like this when I woke up, Nathan managed to break through the barrier and I panicked, therefore running into the forest' They stopped to catch their breath, both breathing heavily as they leaned again a tree 'I'm just glad you're okay, but what's all this about a barrier?'
'Oh yeah, you were already here...Kenny and I tried to fight the Guard wolf, and it ended up knocking Kenny out before...I don't know. There was tons of fire, I know that'
'There's a possibility that you sent out a massive wave of power, that's why you don't look like a lava creeper anymore'
'Probably'

The two fell into a comfortable silence, both sliding down the tree stump and sitting on the dry grass beneath them 'So...Do the others know you're okay?' Amelia asked, and the Ignis Royal snorted 'Would they care if they did? Robert's had a grudge on me ever since he found out who I really am, and he's basically the leader, so everyone else hates me'
'Preston, that's not true. There's me, Vikk, Kenny, Nathan...We all care about you, you're like a Brother to me, and you're a great person'
'...Thanks'
'No problem' They smiled at each other, and started exchanging stories about their Kingdoms. Amelia learnt about the time Preston and Kenny nearly made the Royal Garden explode ("There was dynamite there, and Kenny was bored") So Preston listened to Amelia's story on how she nearly set fire to the Throne Room ("I was about six at the time, and it was Rueben's idea!")
Unfortunately, they were having so much fun that they didn't notice the two red eyes glaring at them from the shadows, planning the monster's attack 'One time, we were taking a walk in the forest around the Kingdom, right? I was a few feet behind the others, and I decided to jump and some puddles. Little did I know that one was actually a huge bog, which of course I jumped into. Long story short, nobody was impressed' Amelia laughed, recalling the memory of five years ago 'I guess that wasn't your greatest moment then' Preston grinned slightly, looking up at the sky 'Better than the time I got stuck up a tree for six hours'
'How on Esrever did you manage that?!' The Truncatis Princess shrugged, playing with the hem of her white t-shirt 'Basically, me and Rob were outside playing with a ball and it got stuck up the tree. I climbed up to get it, but got stuck and Rob just stood there laughing. I told him I could get down by myself, so he left and I was stuck up - Look out!' A vine shot out from the earth and wrapped around the Exterreri's waist, causing it to hiss and howl as it was suspended inches away from Preston's face 'Is this thing out to kill you or something?!' The Texan squeaked, edging his way around the tree to the girl's side 'Apparently, yes. You're not gonna kill me, just get over it!'

'I can at least try!' The creature's legs clawed at the vine, and Amelia winced 'Woah, are you okay?'
'I-I'm fine. It's just...I think my life source is attached to my powers, so I feel a fraction of what happens to them'
'Oh, like this?' The Exterreri had managed to get an arm free and, pulling out a dagger, stabbed the vine 'Really?!' The girl hissed in pain, but kept a tight grip on her attacker 'Can I torch this thing already?'
'Go ahead, there's no way I'm stopping you' The fire bender started a small blaze in the palm of his hand, before a loud voice yelled "Stop!"
'Can't we at least burn him a little bit, oh-great-ominous-voice? Please?' A figure stepped from the bushes, and their eyes fixed on the spider-moth hybrid '...Would someone please tell me what the bloody Hell that thing is?'
'Since you asked so politely, this thing is what I like to call a human'
'I know what they are, but what're you? I've never seen anything like you before' It was only then that the new Prince noticed Amelia and Preston, and his jaw dropped 'Amelia?!'
'Oh hey Lachlan. This thing's an Exterreri, basically a manifestation of my nightmares. What're you doing here?'
'We're all looking for you, actually. Just saying, you scream really loudly'
'You weren't actually there at the time!'
'Can I kill him now?'
'Lachlan, can you let Preston kill the creepy thing? It's gonna give me nightmares'
'I am your worst nightmare, idiot'
'I'm will rip out your innards and feed it to the wolves!' The girl snapped, and Preston and Lachlan exchanged glances 'Uh...Okay. Amelia, we need to get you back to the others' Vikram spoke, dragging a whining Noah from the shadows 'We've been walking for way too long - Oh hey Amelia! Hey weird creepy thing oh my Lords what is that thing?!'
'It doesn't matter what it is, either Preston's gonna burn it or Amelia's going to rip out it's innards and feed it to the wolves. Her words, not mine'
'Wait, where's Preston?' The now human Ignis Prince waved slightly, turning back to the creature 'Please can I kill it now? Seriously, this thing's tried to murder both of us already'

The other three all glanced at each other, before looking back at the duo '...What did we miss out on?'
'Just let Preston set this thing on fire already!'