"I-I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this." Timmy tried, staring down at his twiddling fingers in front of his chest.

Everyone else just turned to stare at him for a moment, before completely ignoring the comment. Even Timmy knew he was wrong. Since they'd arrived back, they'd said very little to each other. Instead, it was easier to sit in the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over the dorm. Not one person knew how they were going to go about uncovering the truth. Saladin was a man they had all looked up to and trusted. To think that that trust had been abused hurt all of them. Even Helia, his own nephew, had given up trying to defend him and accepted that something wasn't right.

For the thousandth time, Brandon anxiously checked the clock on the wall. He was desperately hoping that the arrival of his cousins would shed some light onto the darkness that seemed to have consumed his life. Sitting here wasn't helping. The knot in his stomach was getting tighter by the second.

He sighed, climbing to his feet. "I need to get some air."

"I'll come with you." Sky said, getting up too.

"No it's alright." Brandon stopped him. "I just need some time alone, time to think things over."

Sky frowned. "Alright, if you're sure."

Brandon managed to pull a small smile, before letting himself out and descending the stairs at the end of the corridor out into the school grounds. The campus was quiet, with classes finished for the day. There was the odd group of people lounging around on benches or slowly drifting back up to their rooms, but apart from that, it was empty. The air grew ever colder as darkness began to settle over Redfountain, interrupted by the lights spaced out over the outside of the building that now whirred to life.

Soon. Brandon thought. Soon, everything will make sense. You've waited this long, you just have to hold on a little longer-

"Brandon?" A voice called. "Is that you?"

Turning to where he'd heard his name, Brandon was faced with a tall young man, dressed in a baggy pair of tracksuit bottoms and a loose tank top.

"Jacob!" Brandon's face lit up, as he ran towards his younger cousin, wrapping his arms around him. "It's great to see you."

"You too." Jacob said, breaking the hug.

"Where's Naveen?"

Jacob didn't reply, instead stared blankly into the distance.

Brandon frowned. "Jacob? What's up?"

Sighing Jacob turned, gesturing for Brandon to follow. "Naveen...isn't doing so good. To be honest, neither am I, but I'm managing to hold it together. I have to, for him."

"Xanthia." Brandon realised. "What is it? What's happened?"

Jacob looked at him, then looked away again. "C'mon, I'll tell you when we're in our room. You might wanna sit down."

Confused, Brandon followed his cousin back up the stairs and along another corridor. Again, his mind spun with possible answers. Naveen was usually always there for his younger brother, always putting on a brave face. He dreaded to think what could have happened to make the tables turn so drastically.

They arrived at a door halfway along the corridor. Jacob opened it, letting Brandon through before following him and closing it gently behind himself.

The room was only small, with two beds pushed up against opposite walls. Each had a pile of sheets folded up at the bottom and two cases waiting to be unpacked. It was clear that neither of its residents had tried to get settled in. Instead, Naveen just sat on the edge of the bed, his glasses placed on the table beside him, staring into space. He didn't bother to turn to see who'd just entered. Brandon cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Naveen." Jacob said quietly.

Naveen shook himself, as though he'd been jolted awake. He turned his head slightly, his eyes flicking briefly towards his brother and cousin, before he went back to staring straight ahead of him, his eyes welling up with tears.

Tentatively, Brandon approached his other cousin, perching himself at the edge of the bed beside him. "Naveen?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he turned his face away, sniffing and wiping his eyes furiously.

"What happened?" Brandon asked, for what seemed to be the thousandth time.

All of a sudden, a huge sob racked Naveen's body, followed by another, and then another.

"They're really gone." He choked out, gasping for air through his tears. "Being here...it just makes it even more real. But I don't want it to be true. I don't want to believe it, I-I can't!"

He turned to Brandon, falling into him. Brandon wrapped his arms around Naveen, trying his best to calm him, looking to Jacob for answers.

"Who's gone? Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

Jacob took a deep breath, furiously blinking back the tears forming in his own eyes.

"It's our father." He whispered, barely audible above the cries of his brother. "He...he's dead."

An eerily cold silence settled over the room. Brandon felt like the wind had been knocked out of his stomach. Out of all the possible outcomes...he never imagined something like this. He had feared for his own father, but not once did he stop to think about his uncle, about what his cousins might have gone through. The shock turned to guilt, which then merged to grief. He didn't know anything that he could possibly say to make anything better. The typical 'I'm so sorry' didn't seem right now. Beside him, Naveen's breaths eventually became more collected, as his tears subsided.

"Xanthia isn't safe anymore." He murmured, wiping the last of the tears from his cheeks. "Our father's death was the final straw."

"There had been rumours, little pieces of information, that there was to be an attack on Xanthia." Jacob continued.

Brandon felt a deep rumbling anger rising inside him. "An attack? Who would dare to attack Xanthia?"

Jacob paused for a moment, and appeared to be thinking about Brandon's question, before ignoring it and carrying on. "We didn't know what to do, what to expect. Security was heightened, and within a week, the rumours came true. Our armies held the attackers at bay, defended the realm as best they could. But it was when they broke through and the war began to rage inside our walls, that's when...when more and more were lost to us."

"Along with our father, 17 of his pupils were murdered." Naveen cut through, his voice low. "Our enemies launched an attack on the college. Most of us made it out, but the others weren't so lucky."

"They broke through the gates, firing at anyone they saw, man or woman, teacher or student, it didn't matter. I never thought I'd ever witness anything so horrific in my life...it was awful."

Brandon looked at his cousins in horror, listening to their story. He never imagined such violence could break out in his home. He'd always thought of it as the safest place in the whole Magic Dimension. To think someone could bring that scale of destruction there terrified him.

"People ran screaming from the buildings as the foundations were ripped from the earth, as the bricks were blown to pieces and the remains went up in flames." Jacob recalled the images with a haunted dullness glazed over his eyes, but with the fire of anger still burning behind them. "I remember sprinting towards the gates, desperately trying to get away from it all. I didn't know where anybody else was, I just knew that I had to run. It wasn't until the attack was finished and everyone ran, searching for their loved ones, that I found Naveen."

He paused and looked at his brother, an obvious relief still on his face after all that had happened.

"We searched for hours for our father."

"But we never found him." Naveen whispered. "It wasn't until that night that the list of the fallen was broadcasted. Dad's name was the first on the list..." His eyes glistened with fresh tears as he remembered his father again.

"And then they named the students, the ones that had been in his class when the attack began. They were in one of the basement classrooms and...and the staircase had caved in. There was no way out. The rubble completely smothered all of them. His body still hasn't been found, but we know that he's gone. Our mother went missing too. She and several others from the town disappeared. No one's seen them since."

The silence descended upon them again, settling thick around them. Both brothers had quiet tears rolling down their cheeks, and Brandon found his own face was damp. His uncle had been a good man his whole life. He didn't deserve a fate like this.

"What about my father?" Brandon asked, the news of his uncle increasing his fears. "And mum? What happened to them?"

"They're both okay. Asher received the King's protection, and has taken your mother with him." Naveen answered. "But he could only take one. He had to leave our father behind."

"You never told me." He said, his voice barely a croak. "Who was it?"

"What?" Jacob asked.

"Who was it? Who attacked Xanthia?" He raised his voice. "Who dared to launch an attack on the realm of refuge? People go there to get away from war, to be safe! Not to be slaughtered in an unjust act of violence! The school had nothing to do with it, Uncle Auru didn't deserve to die like he did. His students didn't deserve it! They were attacking unarmed civilians, men and women and children with nothing to defend themselves! Who was it?"

"Brandon, please, we feel the same." Jacob answered. "He was our father and those who have wronged us and our people will be brought to justice, but not by you getting angry like this."

"No!" He argued. "This has gone beyond anger. You have to tell me who did this."

"He's right." Naveen murmured from his bed, looking to Jacob, who sighed deeply.

"Alright." He said. "It was Apollyon. They declared war on Xanthia. They are responsible for all of this."

"Apollyon...but, I thought-" Brandon broke off, trying his best to remember the information that was sat infuriatingly far back in his mind.

A face...well shaped, with blue eyes and blonde hair. A young man, dressed in the specialist uniform.

"What school did you go to exactly?"

"Apollyon's school for young warriors."

Apollyon, he knew he'd heard its name recently.

"So are you from Apollyon then?"

"The very prince of the realm."

He frowned. It still didn't make any sense. Why now? Why was all he needed...

I was told that coming here would take me further than my old school could.

There was a name, a name that he just couldn't rem-

"Aeron!" He exclaimed suddenly.

"Who?" Naveen asked.

"Prince Aeron." Brandon spat. "He came here a few days ago."

"So?"

"He's the Prince of Apollyon. He came and stood beside me. He spoke to me like a friend, but all the time, he knew. He knew that his realm was attacking mine, that his people were murdering ours!"

"Whoa, Brandon calm down!" Naveen stood. "Trust me, that angers me as much as you. We lost our parents to this realm, but you can't let this get the better of you-"

"Of course I can!" Brandon cut him off. "I'm going to talk to him, see what he has to say. No one has the right to take away peoples' refuge. Everyone has a right to be safe, and I will not let anyone take that away from Xanthia."

He got up from the bed and headed for the door.

"Brandon, wait, think this through." Jacob said, exasperated.

He opened the door, turning back to say, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. They won't get away with this."

He left, slamming the door behind him. Naveen looked to his brother.

"What if Saladin's wrong?" He asked. "Maybe we should have told him the rest..."

"No." Jacob said firmly. "This is what we wanted. We knew he'd go after Aeron like this. You know as well as I do that we need to protect him, both of them, from Asher. This is the only way."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

No sooner had he left, than he realised what a stupid idea this was. He didn't even know where Aeron was, never mind what exactly he was going to say when he found him. But his anger and grief was too strong to ignore. He never once imagined that a war could possibly have broken out on Xanthia, and to think his uncle had died in such a way, fighting against everything that opposed his peaceful beliefs, made it even more impossible to not take action.

His head felt as though it were being crushed, as though his skull would shatter any minute. In a desperate attempt to lessen the pain, he pushed his fist hard against his forehead, scrunching his eyes shut as he stumbled through the corridors towards his dorm. He reached the door, his hand lingering on the handle. If he opened this door, there'd be questions, questions he really didn't want to have to answer right now. The sting of betrayal was still fresh beneath his skin, the burning flames of grief still engulfing his heart. He wasn't ready to sit down and talk about it again, he couldn't repeat the things he'd heard, not to them anyway. Not yet.

The longer he stood there, the easier it was for his mind to give in to those dark thoughts, the thoughts he tried to bury. Thoughts of pain and of anger. Thoughts of revenge, revenge he was trying desperately not to have. Deep inside of him, there was this churning desire to bring Apollyon to justice, to avenge his uncle's death. He knew it wouldn't be want his parents and cousins wanted, what his uncle would have wanted, but he couldn't unload this burden from his shoulders.

Over the cries of his hate that begged to be heard, laughter filtered through his ears. He shook his head. Such happiness seemed alien and out of place amongst the sorrow of his mind. But the laughter continued to drift through the slightly open window of the corridor, growing louder as Brandon slowly returned to reality. He lifted his hand from the handle, and dazedly wandered over to the window. In the last minute or so, as those thoughts had pulsed through his brain, he seemed to have forgotten what laughter was. He peered out of the window, down into the grounds, where the last of the students were making their way back to their rooms. There wasn't many of them, a group of around 6 or 7 that was now beginning to split as they said their goodnights. They were loud, their voices piercing Brandon's ears, irritating his already pounding head. He noticed that they resembled a small swarm, all buzzing around one person, seemingly desperate for some sort of approval.

"We'll catch you later, yeah Aeron?" One voice called.

"Yeah sure!" The centred student replied. "I'll see you around."

Brandon focused his attention on the blonde haired prince that now took two of his subjects and split from the others. His vision blurred red, a hot hate rising from him. His conscience wrestled with his body, desperately willing him to hold back, to ignore it and go back to his room. But it was nothing compared to the anger that urged him on. Refusing to give himself any more time to think about it, he turned on his heel and ran back towards the stairs, rushing out into the grounds.

"Aeron!" He called, running along the pathway.

Up ahead, Aeron and his friends stopped and turned back. A smile came over his face, a smile that made Brandon's stomach flip.

"Brandon?" Aeron replied. "You okay?"

"We need to talk." Brandon caught up, stopping in front of him. "Alone."

Aeron frowned, but nodded. "I'll catch up with you in a bit." He said to his friends, who slowly drifted away. Turning back to Brandon, he said, "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why you lied to me." Brandon spat, his anger too raw for beating around the bush.

"Brandon, no offense, but I hardly know you." Aeron answered, slightly taken aback. "I've spoken to you what, a total of maybe 3 times? I haven't told you a single lie."

"Yeah, well you didn't exactly tell me the truth either."

"Brandon look, I can see you're upset, so why don't we get you back to your room and -"

"Of course I'm upset!" Brandon yelled. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on!"

"Alright, I tried with you, but I don't need to listen to this. Im going to bed, Brandon. Whatever's going on, I can't help you."

He turned and began walking away in the other direction, but this just fueled Brandon's anger even more.

"How can you sleep, knowing all the innocent people that have died at your realm's hand? Knowing that all those poor people who ran to Xanthia for safety are being forced to endure the horror of war all over again, leaving them with nowhere else to hide?"

Aeron stopped in his tracks. Without turning back, he asked in a low voice, "How do you know about the war? No one is supposed to know."

"When did you plan on telling everyone?" Brandon accused. "You're not here to go further in your studies. You're here so that you don't become a target for Xanthia. You're here so you don't become Apollyon's weakness."

"How do you know?" Aeron yelled suddenly, rounding on him.

"Because Xanthia is my home!" Brandon snarled back. "And because today, my cousins were forced to flee here, after their father, my uncle, was murdered when your forces targeted the college."

"Brandon, look, I get how this makes you feel, but this is not the time or the place." Aeron began backing away.

"So when is it? Once Xanthia has been announced defeated and you can return the conquering hero?" Brandon snapped, taking a step closer. "How could you stand next to me, knowing your realm was out there attacking mine? Don't you feel the slightest bit of guilt?"

"Maybe, but what does that matter?" Aeron retorted. "Nothing you say is going to make me go against my father to withdraw our army. The war has started, and its not going to stop so easily. So why don't you stop harassing me, and if it bothers you so much, go home and join your realm." He laughed coldly. "Maybe if you're lucky enough you'll get to see your uncle again."

He turned and began walking away, leaving Brandon standing there shaking, tears stinging his eyes, the loose lid that was containing his anger gone, leaving the contents to flow freely. He ran after Aeron, overtaking him and coming to stand in front of him, pushing him hard in the chest.

Aeron laughed again. "Brandon, don't kid yourself. If I were you, I wouldn't bother trying."

"I'm not just going to let you walk away."

"I think that's exactly what you're going to do."

Without thinking, Brandon pulled his fist back, and the next he knew his knuckles were coming into contact with Aeron's face, knocking him back.

Slowly, Aeron straightened up, wiping his bottom lip with his fingers, which became streaked with blood. He smirked. "Brandon, if it's answers you really want, I suggest you go and speak with Stella."

"What?" Brandon asked, suddenly feeling very small in comparison. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, did your cousins not tell you? Apollyon and Solaria have been allies for years. We go way back. The only reason Apollyon attacked Xanthia at all was because Solaria asked us to. And now, well, let's just say its no longer a one to one fight. We've called in back up, and I'll give you one guess as to who has joined us."

"No...you're lying!" Brandon yelled, desperately trying to keep his world from crumbling apart.

"Am I?"

With a roar of anger, Brandon went to take another swing at Aeron, but before his fist made contact, it was caught and held at bay by Aeron's own. "I told you not to try"

With one swift movement, Brandon found his arm twisted behind his back, whilst Aeron's other fist struck him hard in the stomach. Winded, he sunk to his knees, gasping for breath. Aeron gave him one final blow to the chest with his foot, knocking him completely to the ground, before walking away and leaving Brandon crumpled on the floor, his face twisted with agony.

A/N: Hi guys! Just a quick note to say yet another sorry for late updates, but things are getting pretty hectic at the moment so fanfiction has taken a bit of a backseat. I'm still refusing to put anything on hold though, so don't worry! As for the next update, who knows when that will be up? Not me, that's for sure! But I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll have a new one up for you all as soon as I can. Thanks again to all you lovely readers!

Gemma Cane xx