The sound lay quiet, a silent cry.
A boy sat alone, though not through a try.

The room was quiet. Well, if you could call it a room. The boy flinched, opening his eyes to meet almost pure black 'H-Hello? Is anyone the-there?' He called out, trying to stand to see that his wrists were shackled to the hard ground "What the..."
'Prince Vikram! So glad you could finally join us' A deep voice echoed through the dark, causing the boy to flinch and look around 'Who's there? Show yourself!' Vikram challenged, only to be met by the deafening silence of the mindscape 'Where are you?'
'You see young Prince, I'm everywhere...And nowhere. I am your biggest fear - I am darkness, yet I am light. I am hate and love, sun and moon, trust and deceit - Only time will tell'
'Can you stop with the riddles? I get it, I'm supposed to be scared by you or something, but it's not going to work. I don't have any fears!' That was a massive lie.
Being rejected? Fear. The dark? Fear. Being lonely? Fear.
'Now look Vikram, we both know that's not true. You're scared of being left behind while all your "friends" go an adventures, you're scared of being alone, you have so many fears that you can't list them like the good boy you are' The darkness seemed to grow, creeping into the Prince's heart and mind 'I-I'm not-'
'Don't lie to yourself. You have no friends, your family doesn't love you - You're worthless. The others make fun of you behind your back, especially Lachlan. You should hear the things he says! Oh, and the comments Amelia makes. Phew! Who knew such a little girl could know so many naughty words. Then again, she's not very little compared to you is she? Seeing as you're so short, I'm surprised Lachlan doesn't have back damage from looking down at you all the time. Then again, that's all people do - look down on you' These words brought tears to the Void Prince's eyes, and by the time the sentence had finished great salty tears were rolling down his face 'That-That's not true...'
'Of course it is! Why do you think you keep falling unconscious, eh? It's because you're weak. Nobody will ever love you, you're going to be alone. Forever'

Vikram snapped. He lunged forwards, the metal cuffs breaking as black energy balls were summoned in the air around him 'They do care about me! You say all these things, and yet you have no proof!' He shouted, his voice being amplified by the dark surrounding him 'How can you be sure that you're not lying? You don't know what they say about you, you're a waste of-'
'Vikk!' A shining white crack appeared in front of the boy, and he flinched back in surprise 'Vikk, wake up!' The jagged line stretched from the top to the bottom of Vikram's sight, before it spread further and further apart as he was pulled back 'Please, wake up!'

The Void Prince sat up with a gasp. Dull blue eyes bore into his own, and his heart began to race "The others make fun of you behind your back, especially Lachlan" 'Vikk, are you okay?'
'I'm fine...' The Brit muttered, pushing himself up against the wall in an attempt to get as far away from the Australian as possible 'Are you sure? You were-'
'I said, I'm fine!' Lachlan flinched at his outburst, a wounded look in his eyes 'Vikk, I know you. Something's-'
'You don't know me at all! You don't know what I've seen, you talk about me behind my back all the time! I know what you've said, all of it' He stood up to his full height, though he still only came up to Lachlan's shoulder 'Vikk, who said anything about - We don't talk about you behind your back, who gave you that idea?' The Australian took a small step forwards, watching as his friend did the opposite 'Just - Stay away from me, Lachlan. You all look down on me because I'm short, you don't know anything!' A look of sad anger flickered in the blond's eyes, and he looked away 'You're right, Vikk. I don't know anything. I'm just a stupid and ignorant prince who tries his best for his friends, yet it's never enough!'

Nathan and Amelia's gazes switched between the two, before meeting each other's eyes 'Should we try and stop them?' Amelia muttered, before an explosion from above caused parts if the roof to cave in 'Duck for cover!' Nathan yelled, and the duo looked up before Lachlan shoved Vikk out of the way 'I'll meet you at the-!' The wooden beams supporting the upper floors of the castle - and the dungeon roof - collapsed, burying the Aether Prince under five tonnes of pure oak 'Lachlan, no!' Amelia cried, vines bursting through the stone ground and wrapping around the planks in an attempt to pull them away before someone grabbed her wrist 'Amelia, we don't have any time. If we stay here for any longer, the entire ceiling will collapse on top of us!' Nathan urged, pulling her away from the rubble as Vikk stood with wide eyes 'Vikk, come on. We have to find the others!'
'But Lachlan - Okay, let's go' He had a dull tone in his voice as he walked behind the Truncatis duo, and the Princess bit her lip as she was pulled forwards...

Looking away a second before the rubble shifted.

Meanwhile.

All Kenny saw was black. He tried to breath, to move, to feel anything. He was frozen in time. He could hear muffled shouts, maybe the clashing of two swords...His veins were filled with adrenaline, but he couldn't get rid of it. All he could do was stand and wait.
There was a new presence. It was supposed to be alien, like he didn't know what it was - But he knew better. The visions - no, memories - he had seen were still burning in his mind. He'd learnt things about himself he didn't even know were possible. The source of his powers, his real Kingdom - His real family.
He never really fit in when he was at Ignis. People knew he was different, just by looking at him they could tell he couldn't belong. But that voice...It somehow reminded him of Home. When times were better, and there was no conflict, just peace between the Kingdoms.

Kenny smiled, though it was filled with sadness. A world without War - Where people could live in peace with one another and no one would have to worry about being attacked. He hadn't noticed, but as he thought the darkness surrounding him had gradually grown brighter 'Dragon...Out...Help...Lachlan?'
'Under...Collapse. Vikk...Fight...Nightmare. We can't...Sure' The American was slowly regaining his senses, and it wasn't long before he took a deep breath of air and stumbled, gripping the edge of a chair tightly to stop himself from falling 'Kenny's back!' Noah reported, gripping the blond's shoulders and pushing him onto a seat 'You should probably sit down, a lot's happened and...Something that affects you has come up. Like seriously has something to do with your life. And when I say that-'
'Noah, just tell him' Preston spoke quietly, messing with the sleeve of his jacket and looking down nervously 'Fine. I just wanted to add some atmosphere-'

'Can someone just tell me what's going on?!' The Guard groaned, crossing his arms in the table and laying his head down. He was about to finish the action when he spotted something...off. There was a new face there, yet it was one Kenny felt he knew. The new blond looked nervous, constantly tapping his fingers on the slightly chipped maple table 'Right, long story short - It's kind of hard to explain...Basically, you see the blond guy over there? His name's Brice, and he's-'
'My Brother. I kind of gathered that after seeing a ton of past memories that included me actually being a Prince of Atlantis and having Brice as a sibling' Preston looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow slightly 'You're taking this surprisingly well...Who are you, and what have you done with the real Kenny?' The Texan joked, and Kenny rolled his eyes 'Very funny, Preston. But yeah, When I was frozen I had some time to think it over and totally not have a panic attack...What's wrong with Vikk? He seems-'
'We don't really know. Lachlan woke Vikk up, then they got into an argument about something. The ceiling began to collapse and Lachlan shoved Vikk out of the way of a falling beam. We don't know if he managed to get out, but something tells me he's still alive.

'Affirmative' Kenny turned and almost screamed, seeing a large two-headed dragon with two children on it's back 'Wait a - Lil' Lachy?!'
'The one and only. Technically not though, since only two of us are actually the dragon while Silvak's up there with Prince Landon'
'Hey guys!' The eight-year-old waved, turning to look at Preston 'Oh, hey Preston! How's Uncle Blaine?' He asked, and the room seemed to go still 'Wait...Uncle Blaine? Preston, what's he talking about?' The Ignis Prince shrugged, leaning back in his chair slightly 'Landon's my Cousin, didn't I tell you that?'
'Well...That can't be right, Landon is Lachlan's Brother' Nathan said, a confused look in his emerald green eyes 'No, Landon's definitely my Cousin' Landon nodded to confirm this, sliding down the dragon's side 'Preston, where is Lachlan anyway?'
'Sorry Landon, at this very moment in time I have no idea where - Wait a minute, if Lachlan is Landon's Brother, doesn't that mean he's...Technically also my Cousin?!' Preston yelped, before falling backwards in his chair 'Uh...Yeah. Lachlan's your Cousin, have fun explaining that one to him'

'Explaining what to who?' An Australian voice piped up from the doorway, and Landon cheered 'Lachlan!' He ran towards his Brother at full pelt, almost knocking him over 'Are you okay? What happened to you?'
'What happened to me? You're the one who went missing for a fortnight, I was so worried about you...Did they hurt you? They did look after you, right?' Landon pulled away from his older Brother, tears in his eyes 'I-I'm fine, but what about you? You've got a black eye, and I saw you limping'
'You've always been straight to the point...It's not important, how did you get here?' The younger Prince grinned, dragging Lachlan over to the dragon 'Lil' Lachy found me!' He chirped, and Lachlan's jaw dropped 'Greetings, Prince Lachlan' The red eyed head spoke, dipping his head in respect as the blue and yellow did the same 'Hey, where did Silvak go?'
'I'm right here, Landon. I had a rejoin these two, they kept arguing about the controls' The yellow spirit growled softly, nuzzling the younger Prince as he giggled 'That tickles!'. The older Aether boy was still in shock, his mouth hanging open until Amelia put a hand under his chin 'You're going to catch flies like that. That's not the only surprise either - You may want to sit down for this one'
'I don't think anything can shock me more than this' The Australian muttered, but he sat down anyway 'Right, so basically Kenny's actually the Prince of Atlantis and Brice over there is his Brother,' The unfamiliar blond waved 'And Preston's your Cousin'
'Wait, can you repeat that last one?'
'Landon and Preston are Cousins, but since it was on Preston's Mother's side he's technically your Half-Cousin' The older Aether Prince's eyes widened slightly 'You can't be serious'
'Uh, where's Rob?' Kenny asked, looking around for the Canadian as Nathan flinched 'We left him in the dungeon...Crap'

'We did what?! How did I not notice!' The Truncatis Princess yelped, standing up abruptly and pushing her chair back 'Amelia, he'll be-'
'The entire room collapsed, if Lachlan was actually awake when he got out then what about Rob? He could get even worse, or-or...I don't want him to die!' She began to run out of the door, before an arrow flew by her and sliced her arm 'Oh my Lords - Not this again!'