The battle was lost, the army in denial.
The knew that they had failed the trials.

'So let me get this straight, Lachlan's actually my Cousin?' Preston asked into the silent room, and Kenny nodded 'Still in denial about it?'
'Well yeah, we look nothing alike!' The group - Minus Amelia and Nathan, as the two had gone to find Rob - had all gathered around the main table, trying to figure out a game plan to stop the war 'It'll take some time to actually accept it. I remember when Robert first found out he was going to have a Sister - Not his finest moment, I must say'

'Why, what did he do?'
'Burst into tears, yelled "I don't want to be a Brother, I'm too young!" Before running to his room' The Australian deadpanned, running his fingers through his sleeping Brother's hair thoughtfully.
The team fell silent, with only the sound of Landon's soft breaths breaking the deafening quiet as he slept 'I hope the others are okay... I shouldn't have acted the way I did, now Rob could... He could be-' Vikk couldn't finish his sentence as he looked down, hearing Lachlan shift from across the table before the blond stood up 'Vikk, stop beating yourself up about it. You had a nightmare, and I was too eager in trying to help'
'But if I hadn't gone to sleep, I wouldn't of had the nightmare in the first place!'

'All of you, be quiet. You may alert soldiers to our location' Lockyati growled softly, resting his head on the end of the table. Silvak and Graceffa were asleep, so he was the only head active at that moment in time 'But it's true! If I-'
'Vik, stop. You haven't done anything, okay? Just relax' The taller - Yet younger - boy ordered, hugging the boy tightly as he nodded 'I-I just-'
'Shh. It'll be okay'

'I don't want to be the Voice Of Doom here, but why hasn't the castle been attacked yet? The only times we came across any guards was when the Ignis Archers found you' Noah asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he leant against a wall. His eyes were slowly going back to normal, but it still unnerved the others - They were used to weird, but never colour-changing eyes 'Mitch did say that he would try and keep everyone away, so maybe he actually managed to do it?'

'There's a high possibility. Mitch is one of our best... Well, everything. He was originally a Hunger Games competitor before joining the Archers, and he quickly became the best' Preston explained, flinching when another explosion sounded just outside of the dining hall. He didn't want anyone to know, but ever since the... Accident, he'd always been afraid of loud noises - Including thunder, and explosions.
'He played Hunger - Hold on a minute, did he used to be known as the Hunger Games Champion?' Brice asked, tilting his head slightly as the Texan nodded 'Yep, he doesn't really like talking about it though... I don't know why, he never told anyone'

'Well he was a Hunger Games player, correct? Once entered in the Hunger Games, there are only two ways out - Either hide from everyone until the end, or kill everyone else. If you don't do that.... The Gamemasters hunt you down and send a creature after you, chasing you until-'
"Fire in the hole!"
A fireball was shot through the already broken window, heading straight for the startled teens. The burning orb seemed to turn and dive, aiming for one in particular - Lachlan 'Duck!' Preston screamed, shoving the boy to the floor a millisecond before the fire could hit.

His Amber eyes were wide with fear, but something else - Anger. His own Kingdom had been trying to attack Truncatis and the Aether for years, and now they were getting their own way. The young Royal's anger fueled his powers as he caught the large rock, and everything around him went quiet.
Preston was more than angry.
He was furious.
With an enraged yell, he sent the blazing fire back through the window. Then, he summoned an even larger ball and stood by the window, glaring at the countless catapults lined up outside the walls. It seemed that the Void and Ignis were facing off against the Truncatis and Aether, before the thought stopped him.
"Hold on a - Ignis and Void working together? Something's definitely wrong here... What if my-"
'Preston, watch out!' Turning back to the war zone, the Texan's heart stopped as the ground collapsed beneath him. His hair whipped around his face, yet he couldn't make any noise - He was paralyzed with fear.

There was a scream from above, but the rest of the team could do nothing as they watched him fall. He disappeared in a dust cloud, and Landon let out a small whimper 'L-Lachlan? Where-What happened to Preston?'

Meanwhile.

'I swear it was around here somewhere!' Nathan groaned, turning another corner as Amelia simply nodded in response. She poked her head around a doorway, hoping it would be the arch they had run from - Before she felt something pulling on her jacket sleeved. Bewildered, the girl looked down to see dull azure eyes and a mop of dirty blond hair 'L-Luna? Where's Jerome?'

'Jason! Why are you... Hold on, isn't Jerome with you? Also, why are you here?' The Truncatis Guard turned his head slightly, and his jaw dropped when he saw the Princess crouching next to a small child 'I don't-don't know, h-he told me to find you, be-because you were nice'
'Amelia, I hope you don't mind me asking - But why is there suddenly a small child right next to you?' Sub asked, his emerald eyes full of confusion as the brunette shook her head 'It's a long story, Nathan... C'mon, we've got to find Rob before this place ends up collapsing' As if to emphasize this point, a few tiles fell from the ceiling as another explosion sounded from the war grounds. Jason whimpered softly, keeping a tight grip on Amelia's sleeve as she straightened up and narrowed her eyes down a hallway '...He's down there. Come-'

'No! Bad-Bad people are down there, th-they tried to atta-atta... Hurt Jerome' The True Prince warned, pulling the girl back before she could run. Nathan's head snapped up as he spoke, looking between the hallway and the boy with a hint of suspicion in his eyes 'How did you know where to find us in the first place?'
'I - Uh... That's it! Mitch told me that you were around here, so I did what he told me to do'
'But didn't Jerome tell you to come down here?' Footsteps could be heard from around the corner, but the three were too engrossed in their conversation-slash-argument to notice 'Sub! Give the kid a break, he must be terrified'
'We have no proof that this is actually the True Prince, Amelia. Void inhabitants have the power to temporarily disguise themselves as a completely different person - As long as they have some of their blood'

Disbelief lay in the girl's eyes, who looked between her Guard and the much younger boy before locking onto a pair of emerald green eyes. They were almost pleading with her to believe him - Yet Amelia took not notice 'He's just confused, Nathan. Besides, how do I have any proof that you're you, then? Hm?'
'Amelia, this is no time for-'
'No time for what? Answer me this, boy, who's the one in charge here? I could fire you in an instant, you need to learn your place' The Truncatis Guard was taken aback, and literally moved back a step in surprise 'What-What's gotten into you? You never act like this'
She snorted, tossing her hair so that both eyes were on show - And that's when it fell into place. While she would normally have one blue and one green eye, this... Impostor's left eye was solid black, with no whites noticeable to either male.
'Y-You're not Amelia, where is she?!' The girl simply shrugged, twirling a few strands of hair around her fingers as a squad of twenty Void recruits ran around the corner 'You'll find out soon... Vacui, hoc est Rueben. Surrexit autem et Phelethi legiones, et puer'

'Jason, get behind me' Nathan ordered, pushing the younger boy away from the fight and drawing his weapon - A simple iron sword, nothing too fancy, but it had some... Hidden contributions. He took a defensive stance, making sure that the Prince was behind him and watching intently for the first attack "This has taken the worst possible-"
A red and black blur ran past, with a glint of silver as multiple soldiers cried out in pain. The mystery warrior had their hood up so that nobody could see their face, but just by the way he held his sword Nathan could tell they was far more experienced than they looked 'Jason, are you okay?' They asked, making sure to keep a good distance between the Void and Truncatis Guard.
The Prince nodded, a look of relief in his eyes as he ran to the swordsman's side 'Mitch! I thought you were with Jerome?' The Canadian tensed slightly as he heard Jerome's name, and his stance wavered - This gave the Void fighters exactly what they needed ; a weak spot.

With a defiant shout, two of the guards stormed forwards and raised their weapons to attack. Their plan may have succeeded if a pair of smoking ropes broke through the ground and wrapped around their hands. In shock, Sub turned his head to see that Jason's hands had a dark aura around them that seemed to drain all the light from the area 'You guys need to get out of here!' The Prince commanded, twisting his wrists so that the soldiers slammed into each other mid-air 'W-What? Jason, there's no way-'
'Just go! Mitch can take you to where Luna's Brother is, but you need to hurry ; His room isn't stable. Somebody moved him, he's now to be located in his Father's room' The tone began to change in Jason's voice as he spoke, gaining a more formal approach while Mitch nodded 'You sure you can take them on by yourself?'
'I'm quite sure I can manage, Mitchell - Go!'

Meanwhile.

'He...He's gone' Kenny spoke quietly, a haunted undertone in his voice as a few raindrops began to fall. After getting all of his memories back, and finding out that he had a real family before Ignis, he was basically an emotional wreck - And the current situation was only making it worse.
'Maybe-Maybe he survived the fall? He c-could've caught a ledge jus-just as he fell... Right?' Noah stammered, peering over the edge in an attempt to see through the thick dust clouds. The former Ignis Guard simply shook his head and slid down a wall, feeling both physically and mentally drained as he hugged his knees to his chest 'I-I should've been able-able to-'

A comforting presence joined Kenny by his side, and he looked right to see Brice with a worried look in his eyes. The Australian said nothing, but upon seeing how upset his little Brother was he cautiously asked the question of ; 'How close were you two?'
Kenny snorted, raking a shaky hand through his dirty-blond locks and taking a deep breath before he began 'Well... Back when we first met, we were both only a few weeks old. We were always near each other, and I forced myself to become the best fighter in Ignis just so that I could stay by his side. He was... Preston is like a Brother to me, and nothing would be able to change that for the world. Preston's my best friend, and for a while we only had each other - I didn't have a proper family, and Preston's dad was never... He would always...' The American trailed off, feeling small tears well up in his eyes as he looked away from his older Brother. He didn't want Brice to see him like this.
Why am I so-

'Someone's coming!' Vik warned, his brown eyes wide with fear as he closed the door. Landon, in a blind panic, decided that the best hiding place would be... Inside an empty flower vase. It was just large enough for him to fit, so while the others weren't looking he climbed inside.
'Uh, guys? What the Hell are we supposed to do with a ten-foot dragon?!' Lachlan yelped, running around in circles while Kenny and Brice quietly slid under the mahogany table. The three-headed reptilian merely snorted in response, making it's way to the window and carefully maneuvering itself so that it couldn't be seen easily, yet it could still attack if necessary 'I'll be fine, Prince Lachlan. Now hurry, I can hear them approaching!'