They got along well, almost too well it seemed.
On the lake surface, the silver moon gleamed.

Preston had no idea what he was doing - As per usual. Whenever he used his powers, he knew that there was always a chance of something going wrong... But this was completely unheard of.
As the lava walls continued to climb high into the sky, the Texan heard Ali screaming profanities - He was close by. Preston began to run through his maze, his previous words running through his mind.
"You'll have to catch me first!"
"Welcome to my maze, Alistair - Catch me if you can!"
The brunette groaned, taking a sharp left to avoid a small patch of... Were those obsidian spikes? Huh, interesting.
"What was I thinking? Standing up to someone like that... I would never have done that before. What's changed? What's happened since I left Ignis... I met the Pack, but - Wait. The Pack? Where did that come from?"

While lost in his thoughts, Preston didn't hear the loud whistling. Nor did he hear the explosions on either side.
That was, until the projectile hit.
Hundreds of quartz shards rained down from the heavens above, as one of the Aether's bombs had hit it's mark. Yelping as one of the almost knife-like objects hit him right between the eyes, Preston ran even faster through the maze. He had no idea where he was going, but he had created this maze - Surely he would be able to find a way out.
There seemed to be a pattern ; Left, right right, left right right right left left right left. It would have been completely random to any normal Esrever inhabitant, but Preston realized he knew this path like the back of his hand "Why are the... Why's it in the shape of the dungeon?"

'Prince Arsement, I'm coming for you!' Ali yelled, alarmingly close to Preston's location as shards continued to fall. The Texan swore quietly under his breath, taking the last left before the pattern repeated... Or was he supposed to turn right?
Without even thinking of the consequences, Preston ran left - And found himself propelling straight towards a wall of magma. He panicked, then remembered that he was fireproof - Surely the lava wouldn't hurt him, right?
Oh, he was so wrong.
Rushing through the glowing orange liquid, the Ignis Prince expected to feel only a little pain, as he normally did when he passed through flames.
This pain was, far, far worse than anything he'd ever felt. Pulling out of the other side, Preston collapsed to the ground in shock and pain, frantically waving his jacket sleeve to get some lava off before he flattened himself out against the ground. His body ached, and he kept twitching as if the liquid had messed up his nerves 'Note... Note to self - Never do th-that again' The Prince choked out, gasping for air.

There was a moment of silence, and the Prince had to resist falling asleep on the ground. It was so warm, just like home...
"No, you've got to stay awake. Falling unconscious after something like that... I could never wake up" Forcing himself into a sitting position, the brunette hissed when he put weight on his left wrist and held it up to see that it was bent at an unnatural angle 'Well that's just fan-fudging-tastic'
As he stood up, Preston could've sworn he heard someone calling his name. It was accompanied by a roar, and a string of swears came from the lava wall by his side - Ali was right next to him 'Come out come out wherever you are, Preston!'
'How about no!' The Texan yelled, and he started to run once more as he heard the Brit laugh manically 'Well done, idiot - I now know exactly where you are!'

"He has a point... Eh, I can always phase through a wall again if he finds me" The roar sounded again, even closer this time, and Preston recognized it as that of Lockyati's "What's it doing down here? They should be with the Pack, surely... Why I keep calling them the Pack? Ugh, I think the lava's messing with my brain"
'Preston? Preston, where are you?'
"Wait a - Is that Lachlan?" There was a thump on the other side of the wall, and the Texan conceded that the dragon had landed just outside the maze 'Lachlan? Is that-'
'Thanks the Lords you're okay... Is there any way for you to get out of there?' Looking around, Preston sighed when he saw that the only path was heading back to the centre of the maze 'Uh, yeah... But it's not gonna be pretty'
'Will you get hurt if you do it?'
'If mentally scarred and emotionally drained counts, then yeah' The Australian swore loudly, and Preston could imagine him pacing just by the walls in frustration 'Right... I'm gonna try and find a safer way, don't do anything that'll get you hurt'

'Heh, that'll be fun. Did I mention that Ali is currently trying to hunt me down?'
'You what?!'
'I guess not, then. I'm gonna use my way, you might want to stand back'
'Preston, no!' The Texan walked back a few steps, before facing the wall once more. He was about to run, before a dragged flew past and almost slit his throat 'You're... You're not going anywhere' Alistair spat, his eye twitching and a crazed expression on his face 'Uh... Yeah, Lachlan? He found me'

Meanwhile

'So you two are actually ghosts, and you fought in the War eighteen years ago?'
'That would be correct, yes. In fact, it was the same War that started because of Ignis' jealousy'
'Why were they jealous of us? At least they have hot weather all year around'
'They wanted change. Having the same routine over and over for hundreds of years can be... Frustrating' The purple spirit finished, leaning against his older companion as Robert nodded slowly 'That makes sense, I suppose - But why did they come after us? Our Kingdom's nothing special, they're the ones with hybrids'

'Well yes, but this Kingdom has something they don't - Kindness' The Canadian titled his head slightly, crossing his legs in the bed and looking up at the violet-eyed ghost 'So... They all hate each other there? Makes sense, their Royal Family are a bunch of-'
'They weren't always bad. When King Blaine's first son was born, happiness spread throughout the land - It didn't last long. One night, the boy's parents walked in to say goodnight to their child... They found him with a dagger in his chest. There was a lone figure standing by the window, but their face was covered by a dark cloak. After this accident, the Kingdom fell into a depression that could be healed by nothing.
Once Queen Harriet announced her second pregnancy, the Ignis inhabitants grew nervous. They didn't want history to repeat itself, and increased it's security far more than usual.
The birth of the second Prince was a success, and the family was overjoyed to have a child once again. Everything was fine... That is, until the boy's first birthday. The day had gone perfectly, and it was midnight when the accident happened. Nobody knows how it started, but soon the blaze had taken the entire castle. Everyone inside was evacuated, while Harriet went back for her child... This was the mistake that would cost her her life'

'Well no, her first mistake was actually having Preston' Rob snorted, but he froze when distant memories came to mind.
"Rob, watch out!'
"Just make sure you don't fall, okay?"
"Stay safe, Rob"
"Oh my Lords, no... Rob, can you hear me? C'mon, wake up!"
'He's not as bad as you think, Rob'
'But he's from-'
'Just because he's from Ignis, it doesn't mean he's a bad person. He's been trying to protect you all this time, but you've been pushing him away - He sees you all as his family. After Harriet died, his Father... Well, it's better if he tells you himself'

'I-I never knew he felt like that... I've been acting so badly towards him, too!' The Truncatis Prince groaned, falling back onto the bed and closing his eyes "He sees us as his family... And I've just been pushing him away! He's saved us multiple times, and... Ugh"
'I've got to say I'm sorry...' The taller spirit nodded, as if happy with the Canadian's response 'So, what are you going to do about it?'
'Find him, and tell him how sorry I am'
'That's the spirit!' He cheered, causing the other two boys to groan loudly 'Now I know why A-a- hated you so much'
'Correction - He didn't hate me, I just heavily annoyed him. Now, to Preston!'

Meanwhile.

'Stop dodging, damn it!' Ali snarled, drawing his sword as the Texan took a step back. The Guard had managed to get in quite a few hits, leaving Preston weakened and basically paralyzed in fear 'Lachlan, I've got to go through the wall!'
'No you bloody well don't! You are not going to go through this wall, Mister' The Australian replied, attempting to break through the wall with his sword. He pulled it back, only to find that the blade had melted in the lava 'You've got to be kidding me!'
'You're cornered, Prince Arsement - Give up now, and I might let you live' Preston shook his head, taking another step back before realizing that he was, indeed, cornered 'Literally the only way for me to get out of here is to go through the wall, Lachlan'

'You're not going to go through that wall!' Rolling his eyes, the Texan yelped when a throwing knife buried itself in his left shoulder. He heard another growl, before the wall behind him hissed and turned to obsidian 'I thought water was supposed to turn it to stone?!'
'It's the other way around, Lachlan! What was your plan anyway, get Lockyati to ram into it or something?'
'...Maybe' Sidestepping to avoid another dagger, the young Ignis Prince was seriously considering going through the walls again - Before someone made that decision for him.
While Preston had his guard down, he didn't notice Ali dropping all his weapons. He also didn't notice the Brit taking a running stance, before... It was too late.

A large force connected with Preston's chest, shoving him through the magma wall. The Texan screeched as lava poured into his wounds, struggling to push through to the other side as Ali's grip loosened... Followed by an inhuman screech of pain '-Lords, Preston?!'
With his heart beating abnormally fast, the Ignis boy fell to the ground. Breathing heavily, he curled into a ball and began to cry.
It hurt so much, much worse than anything he'd experienced before. He could hear someone calling his name, and felt them put their hand on his shoulder, but he couldn't move. Even just breathing was causing the brunette pain, and it wasn't long before fresh tears arose 'Hey, hey... You're okay now, he can't hurt you anymore' Lachlan soothed, wrapping his arms around the Texan as he began to rock back and forth 'It-It hurts, Lachlan. It hu-hurts, so m-much!'

'Ali can't get you anymore, he's gone. I won't let him hurt you - I promise' The Australian spoke quietly, feeling the shorter boy nod and take a shaky breath 'Y-You promise?'
He sounded so lost, so scared. Nodding silently, the blond continued to hold his Cousin until his cries began to die down 'There... See? You're okay Preston, he can't hurt you anymore. Do you want to get back to the others? They're seriously worried about you'
'Y-Yeah, okay' He sniffed, feeling most of the pain ebb away. Some still remained, and he looked at his hands to see them looking oddly red, as if...
They'd been burnt.

Quickly hiding them in his hoodie pocket, the brunette stood up and hissed in pain 'You alright?' Lachlan asked, concern and worry filling his sapphire orbs. Preston simply nodded, looking up at the lava walls and whistling at how tall they were 'I... I made that?'
'Apparently so. What happened after you fell, anyway?' Turning back to the blond, Preston's eyes widened when he saw a Void Archer positioned by a broken arch 'Lachlan, duck!'
The arrow was fired, and Preston didn't even think about what he was going to do next.
He shoved his Cousin out of the way, taking full damage as...

The arrow pierced his stomach.