Mitch won again.
And again.
And again.
... Showoff.

'Every single - How?'
The Candelian just shrugged, picking at his dinner thoughtlessly. It would have been alright if only the six of them had been there, but of course the King and a bunch of royal guards were hanging around at the other end of the table.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one feeling awkward. Lachlan appeared to be glaring at that particular part of the room, and Rob kept glancing between his father and his friend before looking down at his own food.
The other three, on the other hand, seemed to be doing just fine.
Weird.

'Yeah, it was pretty easy - Rob's just a bit salty.'
'I am - What's salty?' The prince tilted his head innocently, setting down his fork as Mitch and Lachlan exchanged cheeky glances.
'Oh, haven't you heard? Being salty means you're-'

'Attention, guests!' King Sebastian called in that overly-obnoxious voice of his. He really didn't have to be that loud, as they were only about ten metres away, but okay.
'Starting from tomorrow, you shall be training to fulfill the prophecy!' You can stop shouting now, mate. 'You're going to be trained in combat, stealth, healing-'

'I already have the healing ability, though.' Robert piped up. Preston looked mildly shocked, as did Vik, but the other four weren't that surprised. It was rumoured that then prince had that ability, anyway.
'Ah, yes, right, but you don't know how to properly control it.' The king looked smug, but only for a second before Rob grabbed a knife and-
Well, he stabbed himself in the arm. Lachlan choked on his drink, and Preston fell out of his chair as Jerome just gagged and turned away.
What the Hell is he doing?
Calmly taking the knife out (though clearly in pain), the prince put one hand up to the wound. A green glow emitted from his good hand, and within a few seconds he moved it away - The only sign of something happening being a slight scar.
It looked like he'd done that trick multiple times, too.

The King, who'd lost his cold facade for only a second when his son performed such an act, put it back up and glared indignantly at his son. 'Now look Robert, your blood got on the food.'
It was true, but if it hadn't of been, nobody would have had much of an appetite. The Astralan prodigy was still choking, with Vik thumping his back to try and help, and Preston shakily climbed back into his chair while staring in awe at the new scar.
It didn't last too long, as Robert abruptly shoved himself away from the table and stormed out of the dining hall. The area was eerily quiet for a few seconds until Preston walked out, soon followed by the rest of the team.
Are we a team? Preston wondered as he chased after the runaway prince. I mean, it feels like we are, but we've only known each other for a few hours.

'Rob, where are you going?!'
'Away from him!' The Candelian yelled. It didn't take any brain cells to guess that he was upset, so Preston tried to speed up and catch up to him.
He soon found out they were running to a garden. The gates had been left open, and in a desperate attempt to get away from everything he almost fell into the majestic fountain by the entrance.

'Rob? Rob, it's okay.' The Tauran called out uncertainly. Last minute the royal had hidden himself, and he knew the gardens far better than anyone else did, so this was going to be... Ahem, interesting.
'No, it's not - He doesn't understand!'
'You don't need him to. Rob, we're a team, you can talk to any of us. We might not understand either, but we'll try to.' Preston encouraged, peering around rogue foliage for a spot of blue that showed where he would be. The only way he figured that Rob could disappear so quickly, was when he saw a thin-cut path through a hedge.

Gotcha.
'Preston, where did he go?' Lachlan called as the rest of the group finally arrived. The prodigy just shrugged, but pointed to the hedge.
'Through there, maybe? He disappeared.' He admitted, already following the path through the hedge. It was actually a lot thinner than it looked, so a few leaves may have wilted as he walked through.
Sorry, Royal gardener dude, I gotta find my friend.

'Where can he be... Oh. Oh, wow.' As the lined path suddenly widened into a clearing, Preston found himself gazing upon a tall fountain. The centrepiece of the garden, actually, but he wasn't to know that.
Who's that? Atop the fountain was stature of a woman. Though made of stone, he could see a resemblance to the prince. Ah, Rob's mom. She's dead, isn't she?
'Rob? C'mon, I just want to talk.' He spoke up again, making his way around the fountain slowly while trying to avoid any random splashes of liquid. This was actually the closest he'd been to water since he had... Turned.
Anyway, back to the story.
'Rob?' He heard a faint sniffle over the cascades of water, and saw a figure pressing themselves against the base of the centrepiece. Oh dang, this is not good.

'Hey, it's okay-'
A terrible thing to say, honestly.
'How is it okay, Preston?! I've found IIT that my Father's a killer, and then I find out that he doesn't give a crap about me doing something like that- It's not okay!' The prince snapped tearfully, before hiding his face within the depths of his cloak again. Blinking a few times, the fire prodigy looked back and saw Lachlan and Mitch entering the clearing.
'Is he-'
'I don't know. Lachlan, you're closer to him than I am, do you know what to do?'

'I-I don't want Lachlan. I don't, don't want anyone.'
Oh. Oh, my Lords... What the Hell am I supposed to do? I can't do- Out of nowhere, the prince stopped shaking and stood upright.
'Uh... Rob?'
'Hit me.' He ordered calmly, spreading his arms out to make himself a larger target as Lachlan pulled a face.

'Rob, mate, did you hit yourself in the head or something?'
'Hit. Me.'
I mean, I would,' Preston started uneasily, 'but I don't really want to grill the prince, especially not in his own land.'
The brunet growled and narrowed his eyes, the green healing glow entwining around his arms. 'Do it. As the prince of Candelia, I command you to hit me.'

...The Hell?
Dude, look at his eyes. By the way it's Lachlan.
He almost choked at the second presence in his head, glaring at the blond who gave him an innocent look in return. 'What?'
'Son of a... Never mind, we've got a- Ack!' The surprisingly strong royal suddenly threw himself at the prodigy. Green energy blending with the brightening orange glow as Preston screamed and tried to push himself away, neither Mitch or Lachlan could get near them with the readily rising temperature.

Logically, both of them resorted to yelling.
... Amazing effort boys, but not really what you should do in a situation like this.
Some time during the fight, Vik and Jerome found the others. It was at this point that Rob was somehow able to pick Preston up with his bare hands, without sustaining any burns, and blindly throw him.

Unfortunately, he'd been facing the fountain at that point, so the lava mob got chucked into the fountain.
Y'know, the one full to the brim of water? The one thing that could easily take down any lava keeper, hybrid or prodigy? That one.
There was a pained scream, conjoining with violent hisses as water collided with the rapidly cooling lava. Jerome whined and covered his ears, keeping his eyes glued to the ground, while Mitch looked as if he was going to burst into tears any second.
Vik was staring at the fountain's new... "Feature", while Lachlan just glared coldly at the prince. If I'd noticed sooner, then maybe...

'Graceffa, get out of the Prince's body. Now.'
'Now now Lachlan, that's no way to greet an old friend, is it?' The possessed prince cooed. 'I thought you'd be happy to see me.'
'I'd be happier staring at the tip of a blade. Get out of the prince.' The blond narrowed his eyes, small sparks of electricity dancing it around his fingers if just for a moment, and the spirit sighed dramatically.
'But this body's so fun. So many memories to play with!'
Lachlan said nothing, the electricity increasing, and Graceffa saw his eyes flicker red for a second before flickering back. 'Graceffa-'
'Fine, fine.' The spirit sighed, a blue mist pouring out of the prince's mouth, and he stumbled before sitting on the edge of the pool.
Lachlan? He just- electrocuted the spirit, boi be mad. It disappeared so that's fun.

'...What are we supposed to do now?' Vik asked softly.