The Kingdom put their minds at rest.
They thought they had survived the test.

A loud scream echoed through the forest, causing Prince Arsement's head to snap up in alarm.
'What...What was that?' He asked himself, pulling his hood down as his eyes scanned the area 'It sounded familiar...'
The scream sounded again, louder this time as the source of the noise seemed to be nearing his location 'I swear to the Kraken this thing is not leaving us alone!' A female voice yelled, before she ran through the bushes a few feet away from the Ignis Prince as he took a few steps back 'Amelia, just calm down! It probably won't attack you if you stay still!' A large wolf jumped from the bushes, growling at the girl as someone in a green shirt slowly made his way around the canine, making sure to keep one eye on his target.
"What the heck are they doing here...They're gonna get hurt!" Preston took a small step forwards, and the Truncatis Princess gasped quietly 'Preston...?'
He gave her a small smile, nodding slightly as he turned his attention back to the furred creature 'Why're you being chased by one of the Guard Wolves anyway?'
'A Guard-' The wolf howled, baring its teeth before lunging at someone in the bushes 'You've got to be kidding me!' An American accent rang out, before a blond-headed teenager ran from the foliage 'This thing's being a right pain in the - Holy Mother-!' Kenny froze in place, his eyes widening as he slowly looked back at his right arm '...Oh Lords' was all he said, before collapsing as the canine unhooked its jaws from his arm.

'That thing just-' Preston's left eye twitched, and the Prince bent down to the wild animal's level 'Curet bestiam de loco. Relinquamus, et non' The words slipped easily from his mouth. He didn't know what they meant, nor what the animal would do, but it felt like something had shifted within his soul as he finished his sentence.
'What's he saying?' Amelia asked Prince Vikram, who shrugged with a confused look on his face 'I don't know, but we need to help Kenny right now' The duo quickly made their way over to the unconscious Guard, who had a small gash in his arm where the wolf had taken a bite 'Kenny, wake up!' The girl hissed, shaking him 'That's just gonna make the bleeding worse! Don't you know anything about medical care?!'
'Well I don't know, Mr Smarty-Pants. I've never had to deal with a friend who's bleeding to death before!'
'Honestly, you would be the worst Princess ever'
'At least I actually believe in my Brother! Noah's been trying to impress you, but you've been too busy in your own bloody world to notice!' She tore the hoodie from her waist, before wrapping it around the wound like a makeshift bandage 'What?! I've never-' Vikram was shown a glare so ferocious even King Blaine would've whimpered like a child, and that's exactly what the Prince did.
Whimper like a small child.
Good job, Vikram.
'We'll continue this conversation later. That should stop the bleeding, but we need to get to an Infirmary or a Hospital as soon as possible. Nathan, you help Vikram with Kenny. I'll deal with Preston' Just as the Princess finished her sentence, the wolf snarled before retreating to the bushes as Preston fell to one side, seemingly unconscious 'Well this is just bloody fantastic...' She muttered, quickly catching the Texan 'You guys got Kenny?'
Nathan nodded, while Vikram just looked at the ground 'Okay. We head to the Aether castle, and use their Infirmary while someone goes back to report to the others. Good plan?' No one argued with the girl, and she smiled slightly 'Alright, let's go'

Meanwhile

Prince Robert was in trouble. Even though he was two-and-a-half years older than his Sister, he always felt safer when she was around. So now he was having a mini-panic attack while Lachlan was kneeling next to his friend on the grassy ground 'She's going to be fine, Rob. Has she ever needed help before?'
'That's the problem! Even when she needs it, she literally never asks for help, ever!' The more Robert thought about it, the more panicked he became until he finally snapped 'She could be dead right now, and we wouldn't know...I've got to go and find her!' He jumped up, immediately clinging to the nearest tree as all the blood rushed from his head 'Woah, Rob, you alright?' Noah asked, concern lacing his voice 'I-I'm fine...'
'No, you're not. You're clinging to that tree like a koala, what's wrong?' Lachlan added as his Canadian friend shook his head 'I'm okay, really. It was just a-'

A loud scream echoed through the forest.

'That was Amelia! Oh my Lords, does she have a death wish or something?!' The Truncatis Prince stepped away for on the tree, before a bad headache hit him like a hammer 'Ouch...' He muttered quietly, hoping that his friends wouldn't notice.
Thankfully, they pretended they didn't. Lachlan knew what was happening to his closest friend though, and it didn't help the anxiety floating around his mind.
You see, Robert had a small...issue. Ever since he was little, he'd actually had separation issues from either his Mother or his Sister, usually the latter since they spent much more time together. This resulted in a strong bond between the two, seemingly too strong.
'You need to sit down and wait. Seriously Robert, you're really pale and I'm worried about you. Amelia would be saying the exact same thing!'
'We can't wait, she might-'
'Get it together, Rob! If she is hurt, then acting like this isn't going to help her,' His Australian friend snapped 'I'm worried about Vikk, but you don't seem me acting like a child'
'You're not his Sibling, you haven't lost your Sister!'
'I've lost Landon!'

The air seemed to stop.
Everything froze...

'The Castle should be around here' Amelia reported, adjusting the Texan in her arms as she turned back to her comrades 'You said that ten minutes ago' Kenny joked, making sure to keep pressure on his wound.
'Indeed I did my dear Sir. It's a good thing you woke up earlier, I was getting worried and Vikram isn't talking to me...How's your arm, anyway? You haven't said anything about it' The Ignis boy sighed, shaking his head to get the hair out of his eyes 'I don't really know. I can't...I don't know, feel it? Like, I can move it and everything but it doesn't hurt'
'That might mean the wolf managed to tear your nerves' Vikram spoke up from the back of the group, and the Truncatis Princess rolled her eyes 'Someone's a little ray of sunshine' She muttered, causing the Void Royal to glare at her.

'Right, I don't know what happened between you two-' Kenny looked between his two friends unhappily '-but you need to sort it out. Sometimes the entire team depends on how strong people's relationships are, so even if you aren't talking to each other, someone needs to apologize'
'He kept yelling at me because I "don't know anything about medical care"' Amelia admitted.
'You just shaking him wasn't exactly the right choice' Vikram retaliated, and Nathan stood between the two. He shook his head, his gaze flickering from one Royal to the other every two seconds "You need to stop arguing, first thing we really need to do is find the Aether Castle"
'Nathan's right. Talk about it later, but right now we need to-'

'I've lost Landon!'

Their bickering stopped, and Amelia set Preston on the ground against a tree 'That was definitely Lachlan. I should go and see what's wrong'
'Shouldn't someone go with you? I'm gonna stay here with Preston, but Nathan and Vikram are all yours'
'Due to the fact that this is Lachlan we're talking about, I'm gonna have to drag Sticky Vikky'
'...Please don't call me that' The Princess grinned, whispering to herself 'No promises' before heading in the direction of the cry 'If we're not back in ten minutes, we're probably either dying or already dead'
'Well that's a comforting thought' Kenny smiled, waving the two off 'Now go! They might be in trouble'
Yet again, it was Amelia and Vikram going against possible death.
There seemed to be a pattern here.

They walked in silence, gradually growing further and further away until the Star Prince stopped 'A-Amelia? C'mon, this isn't funny' His ears picked up the sound of fast footsteps, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of red before it disappeared behind a bush 'W-Who's there? Show-Show yourself!'
The area became silent, with not even a breeze making the tree leaves move. Then all of a sudden, the Guard Wolf from earlier jumped from the bush.
Vikram, being caught off guard, accidentally called on his powers to teleport. He didn't know where he would land, or if the wolf would travel with him. All he wanted was to get out of the woods at that point.
And get out of the woods he did.

Lachlan was running. He didn't mean to yell at the others, but he felt so angry. Partially at Robert for saying that he'd never lost a sibling. Landon was gone, for Zeus' sake. But he was also mad at himself.
He was mad at himself for losing his Brother.
He was mad at himself for yelling at everyone.
He was mad at himself for making Vikram cry.
There were so many reasons.

The Aether Prince stopped, leaning against a tree and breathing heavily as The Thoughts bombarded his mind.
'I'm sorry...' He whimpered, sliding down to the ground and hugging his knees to his chest 'So, so sorry...'
The temperature dropped to an almost icy level, though the Australian didn't notice it. He was too busy rocking back and forth as he stared at a solitary blue orchid standing tall from the ground.
It somehow became even colder, and this time Lachlan looked up. He knew it hadn't been this cold a few minutes ago, but then his attention was captivated by the small black wisp floating in the air.
"It looks familiar..."

Vik, where are you?! A ten-year-old Lachlan called, looking around for his British friend as he looked around
I have to go home soon!
A small, cloud-like wisp appeared in front of Lachlan's face, and he stared at it in confusion What are you? He asked, not really expecting a reply.
All he gained from asking was a small headache, but that escalated to a pounding throb holding his entire bring as he yelped, holding his head in an attempt to make it stop.
It eased slightly, only reducing the pain a bit before the young boy heard a voice, right in the back of his head
L-Lachlan?!
The Void Prince sounded scared, and Lachlan whipped his head around Vik? Where-

I kinda fell out of a tree and tried to void-travel...I'm stuck in here now. Apparently if this ever happens, my Mum said that someone would have to touch the weird black thing where I would've gone to. Can you see it?

I'm looking at it right now, mate. So you want me to touch it?

If you could, yeah. Lachlan reached out to poke the now sphere-like shape, and as soon as his skin made contact the ball exploded in a bright flash, a heavy weight being tossed onto the Aether boy's chest Lachlan!
Small arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him tightly as the dark blotches faded from his eyesight Vik?! His Void friend had a few cuts and scratches, but otherwise looked fine...

"I need to touch it!" Lachlan thought, standing up and slowly walking towards the smoke "...What if it's not Vikk. Oh well" He gently poked it, and it grew in size before erupting, just like it did eight years ago.
Black mist spiralled into the air, dipping and curving before crashing together to form a ball of energy so fierce it nearly knocked Lachlan off his feet.
He felt something slam into his torso, and instinctively wrapped his arms around whatever it was. He knew it was Vikk.
That Brit was the only Void Royal to hold so much power.
The light faded, and Vikram started thrashing around. He kept muttering things like 'No, stop it' or 'Get away!'
He said the latter again, louder this time as he tried to shove Lachlan away 'Vikk, calm down!' The Australian ordered, and his shaking friend froze 'L...Lachlan?' His voice was barely a whisper 'Y-You're not going-going to hurt me?'
The Aether Prince's heart shattered as Vikram spoke those words. He sounded so...broken. Like the only thing holding him up was Lachlan 'Vikk, I would never intentionally hurt you, you know that...' The Void Royal buried his head in Lachlan's chest, making it clear that he had no intentions of moving 'Hey, it's okay. You're safe now'
The shorter Prince shook his head, looking up slightly and allowing Lachlan to see a sight that made his stomach churn. Four claw marks were dangerously close to his right eye, looking irritated and sore 'Oh my Lords...What happened to you?'
'It-It was just a s-stupid wolf. I-I'm fine, really' The tall Australian wasn't convinced, and hugged the Brit tightly 'We need to get you back to the camp and get Rob to check that out...Are you okay to walk?'
'I think so...'