The Wanderer sighed, his story coming to an end.
He was forced to watch his friend's neck bEnD.

The Truncatis Guard screeched in pain, falling to his knees and clutching at the left side of his face where the dagger had struck. Rueben merely laughed, his golden eyes full of hated and insanity as the blood pooled beneath him 'So... Are you prepared to give me the information now, Princess?'
'Amelia, rem-remember what Nathan said,' Mitchell spoke, pulling against his iron restraints with concern in his eyes 'Don't tell him anything, no matter what he does!'
'B-But he... Mitch, if I don't tell him Nathan c-could die' The girl sobbed quietly, unable to move as the chains only got tighter 'He promised that he would look after you, but if you tell him then he won't be able to'

'He's hurt, Mitch. He-he's hurt, and I can't d-do anything about it!'
Nathan growled softly, weakly pushing himself up and holding his sword infront of him 'L-Let my friends go' He muttered, and the sick-minded Trickster chuckled darkly 'Oh, you still haven't learnt? And calling them your "Friends", very unprofessional of you'
'Does it-it look like I c-care? They-They're like family to me, an-and nobody messes with my f-family' Blood was beginning to fall into Sub's emerald green eyes, and Rueben narrowed his own golden orbs 'Such beautiful eyes...' He mused, pulling a carving knife out of his belt as the Guard backed away slightly 'Can I have them?'
'Y-You what?'
'Well, I'm going to take that as a yes. This may hurt, but I don't really give one' With startling speed, the slightly taller brunette rushed forwards and pinned Nathan to a wall. Amelia cried out in warning, but the Truncatis boy had dropped his weapon in shock 'You're sick' He spat, glaring at the older boy who simply cackled and held up his knife 'I'm not sick... I'm insane'

'Rueben, don't! I'll tell you, okay?! Just... Don't hurt him, please' The female hung her head in shame, and the Trickster blinked in surprise 'You-You're actually going to tell me? Wow, that was easy'
'For some people' The knife was dangerously close to Nathan's head once more as he spoke, but Rueben instead lodged it in the wall and backed off the taller boy 'Well, time to spill the beans young one. Tell me everything you know - And I mean everything'
She nodded slowly, taking a shaky breath before opening her darkened eyes once more 'You can find the weapons... The weapons can be found in the weapons room. This room is located in the castle. You'll have to walk around for a bit, but after you take a few lefts and rights then you should find a door,' Rueben narrowed his eyes, but let the girl continue.

'After you reach this door, you'll turn around as you realize that it's the wrong one. Once you think of your absolute stupidity, you're going to walk forwards for ten minutes. After those minutes, you should be able to see a stained window. If you can't - You're blind' Mitch stifled a laugh as the girl continued to wind her old friend up, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Nathan stealthily picking up his blade 'The window has a picture of the moon on it. Now, I designed that window when I was five so it looks more like a wolf than anything but eh, nothing's perfect. To the side of the window will be another window, and this one will lead to a painful death. Please, go through that window as nobody cares about your existence'
'...Are you attempting to stall me?'
'No, why would I do that when someone's life is at risk?' Sub raised his weapon above Rueben's head, silently preparing to bring it down before the worst happened.
The Trickster heard him.

With an enraged cry, he kicked Nathan's legs from beneath him and grabbed a shard of broken glass from the ground 'You're going to pay for this, brat!' The golden-eyed boy yelled, holding the Guard down with a knee against his chest. Sub's eyes were wide as he frantically tried to kick Rueben off, but it was too late.
A burning insanity lay in the Wanderer's soul as he raised the sharp object, fear glinting in Nathan's eyes as the blade-like shard came down 'Rueben, don't!' Amelia screamed, but the glass had already met it's mark. The Guard howled in pain and anguish as it pierced his eye, thrashing around with blood and tears streaming down his face 'You should've just told me, Princess'
'If I could move, I would be tearing you to shreds! Once I'm free, you're going to regret ever touching my friends' The girl tried to call upon her powers, but all she ended up growing was a small blue flower 'Oh, forgotten already? I've drained all of your powers girl, you can't do anything to me!' Rueben called over the violent sobs emitting from the trembling Guard behind him 'It's a shame I couldn't take that eye... Oh well, I'll just take your left-'

The Throne Room doors slammed open, with a clearly frustrated Rob standing behind them. Amelia let out a small sigh of relief when she saw her Sibling, before her gaze averted back to the shaking form of Nathan 'Rob, you need to get Sub out of here!'
'I'm not leaving without you, and what the Hell happened?!' She shook her head, and simply pointed to the Trickster who was casually whistling while leaning against a wall 'That... That monster happened' The girl spat, and her Canadian Brother raised an eyebrow 'Well that's specific. Need any help getting out of those chains?'
'Eh, I should be - Duck!' The brunette side-stepped just in time to avoid a sword through his skull, and he turned to glare at the Trickster 'Do you mind? I'm trying to rescue my Sister, thank you very much'

'So you two are related, huh? That just means more leverage for me!'
'Not if we have anything to do with it' One by one, the team began to appear in the room as Rob smirked 'Thanks, Vik!' He called, gazing a small reply of "You're welcome!" as Kenny and Choco were teleported in.
'Hold on a - Choco?!' Amelia yelped, the Ignis warrior looking up when he heard his name. His jaw dropped when he saw the Princess, who mirrored his expression 'Amelia? What are you-'
Kenny looked around the room in awe of the destruction, but he froze once he saw his friend curled up on the ground 'Nathan! What happened to him?!'
'You should be able to figure that out once you get closer, but unfortunately you won't get that opportunity' Rueben pulled a handful of throwing stars from his pockets, and began a rapid-fire towards the group. In return, a barrage of smoky copies hit them out of the air courtesy of Noah and Vik 'Good shots, guys!'

'Why thank you my dear' Noah grinned cheekily, jogging towards the girl and pulling at her bonds 'Uh... What happened in here, anyway? All we heard was a scream'
'You see that idiot over there? He stabbed Sub in the eye' The female said simply, wincing as her friend accidentally tightened the chains 'How do you even get these off?!'
'They're all connected, you need to get Mitch's bonds off first otherwise they only get tighter'
'Appears to be legitimate. Any other tips?' He tilted to the right to avoid an ice shard being embedded in his cranium, and continued fiddling with the correct chains 'Huh... This is a pretty impressive system, how did he make this?'
'Don't ask me! All I did was walk around, then suddenly I'm being dragged into this place and Rueben's literally drinking my blood... Ugh' She shuddered, and rubbed her arm once the chains were loose 'He did what?!'
'It's a long story, I'll explain - Holy crap, Nathan!'

While the two youngest Royals ran over to their friend, it seemed that the "Pack" as Preston had called them were winning. Ducking under a badly-aimed fireball, Vik heard a quick yelp of "Sorry!" From the Texan's direction. The Brit simply smirked, melting into the shadows and re-appearing in the unsteady rafters above. He summoned a smoky bow, carefully aiming for the Trickster's head before the unexpected happened.
The golden-eyed boy laughed, taking out a smaller dagger and plunging it into Lachlan's arm. The Australian yelled out, accidentally throwing his spare sword in the direction where Rob and Mitch were fighting 'Heads up, guys!'
Rueben smirked, wiping some of the blond's blood onto his finger and, oddly enough, putting it in his mouth. Multiple dark tendrils shot up from the ground, encasing the two in a black bubble as everyone stopped 'Uh - What just happened?'
'He did the thing! Certain Void inhabitants have the ability to look like anyone, as long as they drink their blood. If what I'm thinking is right, once that bubble goes down there are going to be two Lachlan's' Choco warned, readying a bow and loading it with an arrow incase it went wrong 'So... Who do we attack?'
'Just watch how they act. Nobody acts exactly like my Brother' Landon piped up from behind the Thrones, and Preston nodded 'Got it. Is there anything that he doesn't do?'

'Try asking him some questions that only he would know the answer to' The bubble began to dematerialize, with two identical Australians backing away from each other 'What the Hell did you do?!' One challenged, while the other mirrored his expression 'Me? What did you do?!'
'How do we know which one's which?!' Rob groaned, and they both looked at him 'Rob trust me - I'm the real Lachlan'
'He's lying, don't believe him! Rob, I've been your best friend for years. I know everything about you, just ask me!'
'Uh... When was my birthday?'
'Yesterday!' They simultaneously replied, before glaring at each other and drawing their swords 'Nobody impersonates me and gets away with it!'
'You're the one who impersonated me!' And with that, their fight began. Multiple kicks and punches were thrown, with a few smoke balls being chucked into the mix - But nobody could see who shot them 'How long is this going to go on for?'
'As long as it takes. One of them's going to get tired eventually, or they're going to get an injury that shows them apart'

With a loud sigh, Noah walked over to the fight and shook his head 'Whenever the real one gets an injury, the copycat gets the exact same wound a second later. This could go on for-'
While the fight had been going on, nobody noticed the stray shadow ball. It shot into the air, crashing straight into the rafters - The same rafter Vik was positioned 'Vik, watch out!'
The Void Prince looked left, letting out a squeak of surprise as he saw the ball hurtling towards him 'No!' One of the Lachlan's screamed, shoving his copycat to the side as the mocha-skinned boy began to fall. The blond's eyes were wide as he ran towards his falling friend, hoping to catch him before he fell 'Lachlan, don't!'
Just as he caught the Brit, the ebony-haired boy called upon his powers to teleport himself to the ground safely. They both disappeared in a dark purple, almost black flash 'Dangit, now how do we know which one's which?!' Preston groaned, and the youngest Aether Prince took a few steps forwards 'I-I should be able to tell'

He walked toward the blond, who had a dazed expression and was sitting on the floor 'If you're really my Brother, you should be able to answer this question correctly'
'I can't take him seriously, he's too young' Rob muttered, and Mitchell chuckled softly in response as they watched the events unfold 'Now, Lachlan... Back when this all started, you and Mum had an argument about something. What did she hit you with?'
'Landon, you know this. She hit me with... A glass' The younger blond looked satisfied with this answer, and turned to walk away - Before spinning around a kicking him right in the face 'It was a vase!' He screamed, and the Australian's posture slouched.
'Well, you've got that right,' The blond grinned, a dull black flash occurring as he summoned two thick tendrils from the shadows 'Let's get started, shall we?'
'Clever thinking Landon, now get back - Lachlan would kill us if you got hurt' Noah smiled, before he was slammed into a wall by one of the smoking ropes 'Noah!' Amelia called worriedly, rushing over from Nathan's side to see if her friend was alright while a small black wisp appeared above the Thrones. None of the team had time to observe this though, as they all began to attack the impostor 'Where did Vik and Lachlan go?!' Rob yelled above the commotion, gazing multiple replies of "I don't know!"s and "Maybe they're in the common room?"

'So none of them know where they went? This is bloody fantastic!' Amelia groaned, grabbing the younger Void Prince's hand and pulling him upright. He nodded in thanks, looming at the chaos in front of him and exhaling slightly 'Well this is going well, at least none of us have died yet'
'Correction - I've already died once today!' Preston yelped, darting past the duo while being closely followed by a shadow ball 'We should probably help - Wait what?!'
'It's a long story, I'll tell you about it once the fight's over' The Texan joined the two, surveying the scene in front of him before sighing loudly 'Why were we dragged into this in the first place?'

'Because all of our Parents hate each other, and never listen to the advice we give them' Landon said, standing by the trio who all nodded solemnly 'What's the deal between Ignis and Truncatis, anyway?'
'Like you said, blame our Parents' Noah commented as a liquidised tentacle slammed into the wall next to him 'Sorry, Noah!'
'It's okay Kenny! How's Nathan?' The Atlantean Prince jogged up to them, shaking his head and looking to the ground 'Not good. We can't get him to move, so we don't have any access to the wound. What happened, anyway?'

'Rueben decided to stab him in the eye' The girl muttered darkly, staring at the Trickster in question with a burning hatred in her eyes. It was only then that she noticed the wisp above her Parents' Thrones, and she tilted her head 'Uh... Noah? What the Hell is that?!'