So the next day Lachlan was supposed to be training, but since Rob practically screamed at him not to do it, he just sat on one of the benches and was polishing his swords.
Risky move, I know, but this is Lachlan we're on about.

Rob said there's five days until my birthday. That gives me about four to get away before I hurt anyone.
'Whatcha thinking about?'
Almost throwing his swords in alarm, the blond turned and saw Preston hanging from one of the upper benches.
'I can't be that scary.'
'Nah, you just startled me. What's up?'
'Just checking in to see if you're feeling alright... and to make sure you don't run away.'
'What? Why would I-'
'Seto was reading your thoughts. He figured something like this would happen; You're worried that you're gonna hurt us, right?'

Lachlan glared at the sorcerer from across the arena, and set his swords down before crossing his arms. 'Look, I'd be doing it to protect you all.'
'You still have five days, right? On the fourth, say that you're going to go see some family. You have a brother, right?'
'Yeah.'
'Say you're gonna go see him, and take a few days out. If you're okay, then come back to the castle, and if you're jot, then I'm sure Seto can think of something.' Patting his shoulder reassuringly, which was an awkward manouver what with him hanging upside down, Preston pulled himself and and turned around.

'This whole prophecy thing... D'you think we're ready?'
'What do you mean?'
'Like, we're supposed to be fighting this guy, but all we've done is spar against each other. We haven't really fought against mobs or anything-'

'A great idea, Preston.'
Seto had teleported right behind the Tauran, causing him to yell out and almost fall down the rows of wooden benches until Lachlan grabbed the back of his hoodie. 'I'm not that scary, Preston. Anyway, you're right, the sparring's good but you guys need a real opponent.'
'So...'
'You six are going to go into the cave system, and get some practice. Nothing can really go wrong.'

<<+>>
'I'm sorry, but there's no way I can get through there. Even Vik's having trouble.'
'I mean, I didn't say that was the entrance, but that one does drop you closer to a spawner.' Seto grinned, using his magic to drag the Boralinian back out and gathering the six around him.
'For this task, I want you guys to find a way in. I'm only going to help you if it's absolutely neccesary. You can use your abilities- Vik, stop messing with your visor. It's working fine. Mitch, Jerome, stop hitting eachother. Oh, and a quick note, don't fall into any traps. These caves were used by hunters many years ago, so they could still be active.'

'What kind of traps?'
'Acid pits, lava pits, most of which are triggered by tripwire so watch your feet. Good luck, try not to get injured, and if a party member is unconscious for longer than twenty minutes, just holler, got it?'

The group muttered their agreements, with Vik still trying to brush some cobwebs from his legs after getting stuck in a nest.
Ugh, spiders. Wish I could turn them to stone.
Each pairing having a blazing torch, they scouted the area and found the main cave entrance quite easily.
'It's the biggest one, so watch out for traps.' Rob advised, almost walking into a wire himself before Preston yanked him back.
'How about no. Hate to say it Rob, but you're not the most observant sword in the armoury.'
'Hm. Mitch, would you do the honours?' Gesturing to the mouth of the caves, the prince stepped back as the younger Candelian pulled a face.
'...Fine. Try to stay in one line, and don't mess around with the torches. We have a flammable bacca, and it could trigger non-wire traps.'

Though reluctant, Vik observed that his friend was quite confident in his role. He stood tall, and made sure to check any corners for mobs or crossbows. He'd definitely lead a scouting party before.
This is our first genuine quest. If anyone gets hurt, Rob's the only one who can heal them, and if anyone activates a trap-

'Vikram, they're gonna be fine.' Almost as if reading his thoughts-
Wait a minute.
That wasn't Lachlan's voice.
Paranoid, he swung his torch around the caves. The others walked on, not seeming to notice his panic, and since Lachlan was at the front he wasn't really there to check on him. This was going to he interesting.

Don't panic the team, you can do this yourself. Just your imagination.
'Wow, Vikram, I'm hurt.'
'Wh-Who's there?' He challenged, stopping completely. He was greeted by silence, but Preston had turned around and made his way back.
'Vik, you alright?'
'I swear I'm hearing a voice.'
'Maybe you've been hanging around Lachlan so much his abilities are rubbing off on you.' The brunet teased. 'Seriously though. It's probably just the cave messing with you.'
'I hope so.'

He heard the voice multiple times before they found the spawner. They took out a few mobs each, eventually placing the torches around so that nothing else could spawn. At this point, he was jumping at every tiny noise.
Preston was probably right though. Just the caves. Definitely.

'There's actually some decent loot in here,' Mitch was saying, but Vik was too busy staring at a shadowy figure in the corner. He could see it moving towards some kind of lever-
A barrage of arrows shot towards the group. The figure disappeared, and they nearly managed to dodge them all. Impressive, honestly.
Yells rang out as they defended themselves, probably drawing the attention of any nearby mobs. It ended after about twenty seconds, and they appeared unscathed.
Wow.
'Is everyone okay?!' Rob yelped, glancing around the group anxiously. Of course they hadn't expected an attack of any sort, they'd even dropped their weapons as soon as they'd cleared the spawner out.
'Jerome and I are okay. What about you guys?'
'I'm okay. Vik, Lachlan?'
'Okay.'
No reply.
'Vik?'
'N-Not okay.' Of course one of them had to be hit by an arrow, law of ratios and all. Already having a ball of green energy in his hand, the prince jogged forwards as Vik turned around slowly; an arrow stuck right next to where his heart would be.

'Oh my lords.'
'Vik, I'm gonna have to take the arrow out before I can do anything, okay? Don't-' He stumbled forwards, causing Lachlan to screech and dash to catch him.

'Oh my lords, Vik, are you okay?!'

'Y-Yeah, I'm...I'll be okay.' He muttered, still clinging to the Astralan's arms tightly. 'I mean,I should.It'll heal by itself-'

'And that's a risk none of us are going to take. I'm going to have to get it out quickly, and I'm so,so sorry.'

'Why?'

Already knowing what would happen, Lachlan covered his friend's mouth with one arm. Rob yanked the arrow out, slamming a healing bolt in the wound a millisecond later. Of course Vik ended up biting down, straight into Lachlan's arm, but the prodigy stood solid as another blast of energy hit.

'You'll be alright, you're going to be fine.' He kept repeating, trying his best to ignore the panicked looks of his peers. Rob knew what he was doing. Vik would be fine.

'That should fix it. There's going to be scarring, but you'll live. Are you feeling okay?'

The Boralin just nodded, turning into Lachlan's chest and hugging him tightly. 'Thank you, Rob. That's literally the scariest thing that's ever happened to me.'

The prince saw Lachlan blushing in the firelight, and smirked before giving a thumbs-up. 'No problem.Everyone else sure they're okay?'

'Yep.'

'Yeah.'

'Uh-huh.'

'Great. Vik, do you want me to get Seto so you can go back up?'

No. I've got to do this. 'Thanks Rob, but I'm okay. We're down here to train, so that's what I'm gonna do.'

~ ~ ~

Seto was pacing around the weaponry, muttering to himself and glancing at the covered cylinder every few moments. He could see it moving. It wouldn't be long before they broke their bonds.

'Seto,just calm down. Your most powerful spell is on that thing, and even if they do get out, would it be so bad? He needs to know eventually.'

'No, this is all wrong- This wasn't supposed to happen, not yet!'

A figure stepped out of the shadows, wrapping an arm around the sorcerer's shoulders in an awkward side-hug. 'Sweetie, it's okay. You've done enough for the kingdom, it's time you rest.'

'I can't do that. This place has been my home for centuries, Brice, I'm not going down until Alec is defeated. It's what I was created for.'

'And I was made to take you down, but we both know how that turned out. And the prophecy's changed- You know that.'

'It feels wrong. It states that one shall fall; They would be crushed beyond belief. Surely we can postpone it, at least for a few years?'

The mysterious figure - now known as Brice - sighed, rubbing Seto's arm comfortingly and moving him away from the glass. 'It'll happen one way or another. The only way we can, though, is to separate them.'

'We can figure it out later. Right now, I need to reinforce-'

'Right now, you're going to bed. The wings will be fine, the Novas can handle it for now.' Brice ordered, easily scooping the tired sorcerer up into his arms and kicking the door open. 'Get some rest, love, for me?'

'...Damn you and your soft voice.'

'Love you too.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Setosolace.
Yas.
:)

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