L:   TU let Prudoria sleep. Giving him a name made this whole interaction feel more legitimate and he was rather smug about stealing the naming privileges from those humans.

He finally reached the border of Germany and pulled up at a specific checkpoint that secretly operated under Iremacht's control. They let him into the country without any questions about who was in the backseat. From here to the mansion was just another hour, so he decided to wake Prudoria.

"Wakey, wakey, Prudoria," TU said, testing the name on his tongue again. "Welcome to Germany. I guess you've technically got heritage here since this was Prussia's homeland. We'll be arriving at Iremacht's place soon. Here, take this." TU handed Prudoria a blindfold. "Nothing personal, we do this for all guests. I'm going to need you to put that blindfold on as we get closer."

M:   Prudoria blinked his eyes open as he was handed the blindfold, he didn't question it, he just shrugged and muttered, "not like it would be the first time I was blindfolded, at least this time I'm doing it voluntarily."

 He put the blindfold on and immediately went back to sleep, both because he was still tired and his avian instincts kicked in.

L:   TU raised his eyebrows at Prudoria's response but said nothing more as they drove into more forest. After passing through a mountain range, a series of dizzying turns that would confuse any other person, and several of Iremacht's security checkpoints, the mansion appeared in the distance.

TU parked his car in front and opened the car door for Prudoria. "We're here. You can take the blindfold off now. Let's go see Iremacht."

The mansion was huge. It looked like four houses of three stories each had been combined together, one for each cousin and a fourth for guests. From an aerial view, the mansion was shaped almost like a paw; each rectangular "finger" was a three-story living space and the middle "palm" was a huge common area. The front door handle had the black cross and red diamond symbol of Iremacht.

Two human security guards stood at the entrance. They nodded at Third Union but gave Prudoria's half-naked figure a suspicious look.

"He's with me," TU said. "Give Iremacht a call, would you? He needs to know about whom I've brought home."

M:   Prudoria looked around wide-eyed at the complex, it didn't look like the facility he grew up at, yet it still gave him an uneasy feeling for whatever reason, probably because it was nighttime and the darkness just made it look intimidating.

When they passed the humans, Prudoria gripped onto TU's arm and made a warning growl, which honestly sounded like it came from a lion rather than a voicebox. He wouldn't take his eyes off them until they entered the building, at which point he let go of his comfort buddy and simply studied the interior.

 "It's different in here from where I came from," he noted, "I should have probably guessed that but it's still weird to me to not see white walls and labcoats, at least it doesn't smell like rubbing alcohol, that's nice. So this is where you live I guess, how come those humans outside let you leave, how did you escape from them?"

L:   Goosebumps sprang along TU's arm when Prudoria made that unexpected animalistic sound. It looked like he was eyeing every human like they were prey. TU made a mental note to tell the staff to stay away from Prudoria; he was not looking forward to finding dead bodies around here.

"You mean the security folks?" TU said. "They keep this place safe and hidden. There's no need to escape from them. Unless you do something horribly wrong and become an enemy of Iremacht." TU raised his finger pointedly at Prudoria. "Which I don't recommend, by the way. We're pretty powerful and we'll hunt you down."

They passed by a large common room that was half open to the outdoors and arrived in a smaller, more private living room. TU decided this was a relatively sheltered spot.

"Wait here," TU said. "I'll have someone bring clothes for you. When they come, don't eat them, please. I'm going to get Machty -"

"Ah, you brought him to my favorite common space."

TU twitched, slightly surprised by Iremacht's silent entrance at the doorway. His cousin always moved super quietly, like a stalking panther, and it made TU jump every time.

"Speak of the devil," TU grunted. "Prudoria, allow me to introduce you to Iremacht. He's the snake's head, as people say."

M:   Prudoria raised a brow at the "don't eat them" comment, he wasn't sure if that was an insult or not, ultimately deciding not to think about it too much.

When Iremacht came he was intimidated, to say the least, he found it disconcerting how his eyes made him look like some sort of demon with the red irises and black sclera. In an attempt to hide his concern he made his eyes go black as well, they didn't glow as brightly as before though.

"Um, I've never heard people say that," he muttered, not really sure what to say, "I don't really know what a snake is either. Uh ... hi, I guess?"

As he continued to stare at the newcomer, he felt like he knew him from somewhere, though couldn't think of why, "you look familiar for some reason, I wonder if you were one of the targets my creators wanted me to eliminate?"

L:   "Well, that's a wonderful way to start a conversation," Iremacht laughed lightly. His narrowed eyes when Prudoria revealed his black sclera, however, betrayed his guarded alertness. He continued on with nonchalant in his voice. "No worries. I wouldn't compare myself to a snake either though I can show you one later. I believe Schwitzy has just brought back a magnificent cobra."

"Damn her," TU whined. "I hate snakes."

"Do you have what I asked for?" Iremacht asked TU.

TU handed him the USB. Iremacht turned the little object around in his fingers and gazed from it to Prudoria.

"Excellent," he said. "May I have a private word with ... Prudoria, you said? And judging from your flag ... they must've used Prussia and - interesting - Mandoria. I see. They wanted to use a new King Wing to rule the world."

TU blinked. "How did you figure that - you know what, never mind. You're the political expert. I'm hungry. Goodbye."

Iremacht just chuckled as TU left. He sat on one of the couches, crossed one leg over the other, and gestured at another couch. "Have a seat."

M:   Prudoria did a double take when TU left, he didn't want him to leave him with a stranger that gave off such creepy vibes, he trusted TU more since he's the one who found him and took off his collar.

Whining a bit in discomfort, the country did as told and sat down, though he was distracted for a moment by the softness of the couch. Prudoria shivered slightly, his lack of proper clothes finally catching up to him and he tried to cover himself with his one large wing, the other still hanging limply since he couldn't figure out how to treat it in the car.

"Um ... I'm sorry to ask, but maybe I could get something warm to wear," he asked, not looking Iremacht in the eyes, "I busted out of my water tank so I didn't have any when I escaped, I'm really cold."

L:   As he said that, a maid appeared with a set of folded clothes, which Iremacht indicated should be put on the table. The maid hurriedly left, knowing better than to stay in Iremacht's favorite lounge place for long.

"Clothes, check." Iremacht tilted his head to give Prudoria a once-over, noting every single detail. "That wing of yours looks broken, though I'm hesitant to take you to a hospital. Whoever you escaped from could still be looking for you. I'll send word to our medical staff to prepare some sort of cast. I hope you can bear with it in the meantime."

 Truth be told, Iremacht was slightly relieved that this new countryhuman had sustained injuries. Prudoria's black sclera meant he could be potentially stronger than the criminal entity and the fact that he was on his maker's kill list meant he needed as much advantage as he could get.

He leaned forward with a calm smile. "Relax. I won't hurt you unless you give me a reason to. So what else can you tell me about this facility you were brought up in? Did you overhear the humans mentioning the location it was in? And who else is on this supposed target list?" He twirled the USB in his hands as he talked.

M:   Prudoria took a moment to put on his new clothes, they weren't anything fancy, a simple long-sleeve shirt and jeans, though he had never worn something like this so found it fascinating, the slits on the back for his wings made him smile. When Iremacht reassured him that he was safe he let out a breath to calm himself down, his eyes then returning to normal.

Once he was more comfortable, he put a hand to his chin as he thought about the question, "well, no one ever talked about where we were, I guess it was either not important or they didn't want me to know. The humans kept going on and on about someone called Jeramy Norman, I guess he was their boss or something, how he wanted to get rid of all countryhumans so humans could be in control of themselves. They wanted me to be their hitman I guess."

He looked Iremacht up and down for a moment, "what is a countryhuman anyway, it seemed like such a big deal for me to kill them all but no one bothered to tell me what they were, to begin with, and why they wanted them all dead so badly."

L:   Interesting, Iremacht thought, His black eyes seem to appear with his emotions but he will probably be able to control them at will later on. There's only one other person I know who can do that and he is a dangerous, dangerous man.

"Jeramy Norman?" Iremacht echoed, tapping his chin. "He made the news that one time ... I see. That's plenty of information, Prudoria, thank you. Now it's only appropriate if I exchange some as well." He placed a hand on his own chest. "I am a countryhuman. The pattern on my face is my flag. TU is also a countryhuman, as are you. You'll notice we look different from humans but we are humanoid. There are different types of countryhumans, but the nuances are not so important right now. All you need to know is that most countryhumans rule over a country, in which humans live. Your human creators probably want to kill us all so they could rule it themselves, although I do believe most countryhumans let their humans govern themselves anyway." Iremacht sighed. "They never cease to be power-hungry ... such a needy species."

M:   Prudoria nodded along as Iremacht explained what countryhumans were and their relationship with humans, it seemed that the two species usually got along well, but for some reason, a few wanted to destroy that interaction, it made him feel a little better about the humans he saw outside.

"I've got another question," he said, "the man who found me and took off my collar, I didn't get his name, he said you knew the people that I am made from, I don't suppose you could tell me a little more about them, I've always been curious, maybe I could meet them too, I guess I'm technically their son when you think about it.

L:   "Ah, yes," Iremacht sighed. "Well, there's no point in hiding the truth - both Prussia and Mandoria have long been dead. My guess is the humans salvaged some sort of genetic material from both of them to create you. Hopefully this little thing here ..." He raised the USB. "... will clear up how exactly they did it. If it helps, Prussia is my great-grandfather. He killed Mandoria in a duel for King Wing, which is the powerful ruler over another subset of countryhumans who have wings."

 Iremacht rubbed his head in exasperation. "So many little groups to keep track of, etcetera, etcetera ... Historically speaking, you could never have existed. The kingdom of Prussia and Mandoria could never combine. But clearly, the humans decided to join the genetics of the two ancient countryhumans with the largest wings so they could make someone eligible for the King Wing position."

Iremacht smiled and stood up. "I imagine this is a lot of information for someone who's lived in a facility all his life without knowing what he was. Why don't you stay with us in the meantime? Allow me to show you around the house. It's quite a tour and perhaps we'll bump into my cousin who saved you. His name is Third Union. He looks big but he's really a goof."

M:   Prudoria was silent, he didn't really know how to respond to that, so not only were his "parents" not alive, but one murdered the other, that indeed was a lot to take in.

"Yeah ... ok," he muttered, standing up, "it's not like I have anywhere else to go, so I guess I might as well get to know my new home."

He walked towards Iremacht but stopped when he noticed his wing was still dragging, so he said, "maybe we could wrap up my wing first, it doesn't really hurt anymore, I can only feel the immediate pain of an injury and not the residual pain, I guess so I could fight better, I don't know, but it would be nice to not have to drag my wing everywhere, then end up dying from an infection."

L:   "Ah forgive me, I'm a horrible host for forgetting," Iremacht said. "Let's head to the infirmary then. As you can see, I don't have wings, so I'm much less aware of your needs. Although I do encounter quite a lot of winged countries, so it is still entirely my fault for being inhospitable."

As they walked through the dining area to get to the infirmary, Third Union poked his head out from the kitchen, wiping some sauce from the corner of his mouth.

"Nice chat? Where are you all off to?" he asked.

"I'm giving our guest a tour of the place. He'll be staying with us for a while."

"Eh?" TU grunted in mild surprise. "Bing-bada-boom, just like that? What if they track him here?"

 "They wouldn't dare," Iremacht said brightly. "We're too scary. If they do, you'll finally get to enjoy a fight."

"I guess you have a point. I'm gonna go find Schwitzy and her fricking snake. Just stay out of my side of the house, bitte, it's not exactly tour-ready."

Iremacht waved his cousin away and turned back to Prudoria. "There's one house rule out of the way: stay out of my, TU's, and Schwitzy's private quarters. We have a guest section for you to stay in that should be more than enough to accommodate all your needs. Another rule, which will be more important when we get to the infirmary: you do not disrespect or harm the human servants in this house. It takes a great deal of resources to find, hire, and train them and they are very resourceful to me."

M:   Prudoria nodded in understanding, "ok, that's fair enough, it might take me a little while to learn to not be afraid of all humans, but I'll do my best to not hurt anyone. On that note, I do want to warn you that I can be a little unpredictable when in enough pain, I don't know why. The first time it happened the humans were doing a test to see my pain tolerance level, I think they were using electricity, but when things got too unbearable I blacked out, when I came to I found that I had not only killed everyone in the room but basically reduced them to just smears on the walls. I don't want to alarm you, I just felt like it was something that needed to be warned."

They walked a little more before he spoke again, "another question, how come you always have your eyes black, mine usually change when I'm nervous or angry, but I can change them myself if I want, I admit that yours intimidated me at first and I changed mine to try to hide that."

L:   Iremacht quirked his eyebrows at Prudoria's gruesome yet innocent admittance of slaughter. He knew Prudoria wasn't boasting but he had a feeling he had just got a glimpse of his inner Prussia - at least from what he'd heard about the old empire from people who actually met him.

"I was waiting for you to ask me that," said Iremacht. "I am a subset of countryhumans called full-time entities, who all have black eyes like mine. Full-time entities oversee numerous countries and the affairs between them." He decided not to mention that he was a criminal entity and glanced at Prudoria. "Almost no one, however, can change their eye color like you can. I'd say it's best not to let anyone else know either."

They finally arrived at the infirmary. There were only a few beds and nurses, as the only person who really needed this room was occasionally Third Union. Iremacht was about to ask one of the nurses to make a wing cast but she immediately ushered them to a table where the cast was already waiting.

"Mister Third Union stopped by earlier to request one," she explained. "We just need to make sure it fits."

"Very well," Iremacht said. "Prudoria, this young lady is going to put the cast on you. She won't hurt you."

M:   Prudoria gulped in his throat, still wary of humans and putting his trust in them, though since Iremacht was there he felt a little better about it, so he cautiously sat on a bed and let the nurse treat his wing.

It wasn't terribly hard to put the cast on, his fractured wing was in the proper place and there was only a small cut in between the feathers. When his wing was done, Prudoria allowed the nurse to properly treat his other wounds, making sure they didn't get infected and such.

When she got to his neck he flinched, "please not too tight, I just got my collar off, it was hard to speak and breathe, so please not too tight."

L:   The nurse decided not to put any foam neck collars on Prudoria and resolved to apply a skin cream to soothe the burns. She gave a little jar of it to Prudoria to keep if he wanted to apply more later. With everything else finished, Prudoria was released from the infirmary.

 "I want you to meet my other cousin Schwitzy," Iremacht told Prudoria as they went down the hall. "She should be waiting for us in our main living room. I will warn you, she is blunt and rather pessimistic but a brilliant woman. I'm going to have her show you to the guests' quarters. Don't worry, as long as you don't cross her, she won't murder you."

As promised, Schwitzy stood regally in the main living room when they arrived. Her arms were crossed elegantly over her chest and she wore her usual stern expression.

"Glad to see you aren't walking around with a smoke in the house," Iremacht greeted. "This is Prudoria. Prudoria, Schwitzy."

"Pleasure," Schwitzy said. Her voice was deep and constantly oozed with a don't-mess-with-me tone. Even though Prudoria was taller than her, she still raised her chin as if glowering down at him through calculating red eyes. "Let's get on with it. I want to be back for when my new snake strangles Tutu."

 "Do be nice," Iremacht said with a knowing smile. "Pru here has been through a lot. I'll leave you to it then." And without further ado, Iremacht slipped silently away.