N: Johann nodded and went to follow, but when Helena asked if she could join, he shook his head. "It's best if you stay here," he spoke, "don't worry, we'll be back."

With that, the Mandorian followed the Mandarian down the hallways, blindly turning corners until they finally stumbled across the Saxon.

Lying on his bed, Wolfgang had returned to his room, and stared plainly at the ceiling. Confused, Johann stepped inside and was surprised to see a knife embedded into the wall, holding up a photo. With a closer inspection, the image was a photo with the Mandarians and Corbin, yet the German's eyes were scratched out.

"I asked if there were any drawings of Corbin," Wolfgang finally spoke, making the Mandorian jump a little, "then someone showed me on their little devices what they called a 'photo' of him. They suggested if I wanted the photo, so of course I did, so they 'printed it' and gave it to me."

Johann just stared at the photo, seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, and unsettled by Corbin's face. "So, what are you going to do," he asked.

"I've got to keep myself in check; I don't want to be like this in front of Niko," the other admitted, "but I got to channel my anger somewhere, and a photo will suffice. For now."

M: Adira jumped onto the bed to get a better look at the picture, but when she saw who was on it her four wings sagged.

"You no like Uncle Corby, huh, he do bad things to you I guess," she assumed, "he not like who he was before, but you probably no believe that, huh."

She went over to Wolfgang and lay her head on his chest, purring quietly to comfort him, "Grunckle MA can help anger, he has place you shoot guns, he say shoot guns help with anger, maybe it help you too? But please no hurt Corby, he good person now, he saved Granpa Mandara once, he have bad wings and fell out of sky, and Corby save him, it true."

N: "Seriously," Johann asked in surprise, "Corbin saved Mandara?"

"Who cares," Wolfgang muttered, "this is the first time I can finally get back at him, but all of a sudden he's a good guy. If this is how I can avenge my friends and family, then I'm still going to crush his will."

Johann sighed as he looked back at the photo, studying Corbin. "You do what you feel it's right," he spoke, "just try not to kill him."

"I can't promise you that," the Saxon chuckled before gently sitting up, "you know what, maybe I should take up shooting. Could use some target practice," and with that the Saxon got up to search for MA.

M: "Grunckle MA's outside, could hear him yelling and being angry," Adira informed them, she then twitched her ears a bit before adding, "Granpa is with him, he crying now, maybe leave him alone for bit."

"Wow, you can hear them all the way from up here," a voice asked, the three of them turned to see Rowen standing at the doorway, "that's really impressive, how can you do it?"

"Daddy says I'm special, humans make me special," Adira smiled, "they make me to hunt country people, but Daddy rescue me, now I hunt mice and snakes."

"And your parents let you do that, that's kind of irresponsible, not to mention disgusting," the Mandorian shivered, "anyway, Wolfe, you know that revenge never leads to anything good, you shouldn't be focusing on something so petty. Before you say I have no right to call it petty, I'll remind you that Johann and I had it much worse than you, even if it was only three years, but you don't see me rising to gut anyone. Please, think about your son, if you focus on Corbin then you can't be there for him when he is in pain." Rowen let that sink in for a moment, then relayed Mandara's message that dinner would be ready soon, then left just as soon as he appeared.

N: Wolfgang just stared into nothing, and initially he was angry that Rowen used his son, he couldn't deny that the Mandorian was right. "I hate it when your father is like that," he mumbled, "he knows just the right words to change someone's mind."

"What can we say," Johann shrugged, "Hezyka is pretty good at advising, and the older you get, the wiser you are." The Mandorian's eyes widened at his possible implication, and when he turned to the Saxon, he could see in the other's eyes that he thought the same thing.

Sighing, leaning against the doorframe, "I guess cutting my life too short has made me rash, huh?"

"That's not what I meant-"

"Don't stress, Jo, I know you didn't, although I have been acting selfishly. I'll ask MA about the shooting range at dinner but right now, let's spend some time with our kids."

Johann nodded before letting Adira lead the way back to Nikolaus and Helena.

M: Adira happily bounced back to her new friends, who were currently being entertained by her American father's robo arm.

"-it all happened so fast, yet somehow felt like the world was in slow motion," he was telling them while 'flexing' his prosthetic, "I didn't even feel the pain at first, your brain tends to have trouble processing thing at high speeds, but when I was blown to the ground by the shockwave I was knocked out by sudden rush of pain. When I woke up, I was in a jail cell all patched up, Ame sitting outside to make sure I was ok, we were at war with each other, but he still risked his life to get me off the battlefield and save my life. From that point on, the south was fighting a losing war without their insurgent, Ame gave me a second chance and I was going to take it."

N: Both Nikolaus and Helena both awed in amazement, even if it did happen, if felt like a fantastical story.

"You mush have been a skilled fighter nonetheless," Wolfgang said as the trio walked in, "Ame told me back in Britain that Royal trained him, and with a hybrid like her, I wouldn't doubt his skill."

"Insurgent, you say," Johann hummed, "so you were close with Saxon?"

M: "Nah, not really, I was more of an isolated case," MC stated, choosing his words carefully, "this was back in the 1860s, Ame and I went way back, but not in a good way, which resulted in the war, the southern confederate states versus the northern union states, I think Saxon figured to was either too petty or too complicated to get involved, so he just let me do my thing."

"Well I for one am glad that Mr. Saxon didn't get involved," Poldara stated, rolling over next to MC and planting, "otherwise I wouldn't have my strong and brave protector here with me."

"Sugercube, not in front of the guests," the militant chuckled, more so at their daughter dramatically gagging at her parent's showing affection. "

N: Johann and Wolfgang chuckled at Adira's laughter, and while the Mandorian went to sit, the Saxon's heartstrings were pulled a bit at the sight of the couple together.

"So," Johann spoke as he sat down on an armchair closest to Helena, "how did you two meet? I doubt it's common for an American and a Mandarian to cross paths often."

"Unless you're entities," the Saxon suggested, sitting beside Niko as he folded up more paper, "then you'll probably be around the globe."

M: "Well, not militant and special entities, we're only country level, full-time entities are the globe ones," Poldara corrected, "I mean, sometimes I'll travel out of Mandara after a fugitive, but normally our work remains in our country."

His husband nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, but there are times of the year when countries and entities come together to hang out together, or to talk to their regional full-time entity about international matters, it's called a W.A.T.C.H party, and it was at one of those that we met, but just a warning, it's not the most romantic story."

The couple then told the story of how they met each other, though they did have to sugarcoat and censor certain things with the children present. One could tell that Poldara was uncomfortable at certain parts of the story, such as the alcohol and the insults from EU, so MC had to continue for him.

"-and after all of that, we kept close contact with each other, either by writing or visiting," the Mandarian concluded, "about four or five years later and we got married, the twins were pretty young when it happened for some perspective, they're about in their thirtes or forties now."

N: The conversation went back and forth, with the four adults talking while the three children played, and all the while the Mandorian and Saxon learnt more about the world and the family they know.

However, a housemaid came along and announced that dinner was ready, so they all headed to eat.

In order for everyone to peacefully eat, Johann and Wolfgang decided to not bring up the argument and conversation earlier. Although, following the Mandarians, the Saxon did ask, "don't tell me your cuisine is still spicy."

M: "Only when we want it to be," Poldara chuckled, "the Mandarian culture is a melting pot now, people from all over the world live here, bringing their beliefs and lifestyles, so the spice of the food depends on what restaurant you go to."

"Although they did invent a spicy sauce called Dragon's Breath," MC pointed out, "word of advice; don't eat it, it's like biting into lava."

Poldara elbowed his husband for being dramatic, but they dropped the conversation for now. Entering into the dining room, they found that Mandara, MA, Rowen, Eclipse, and country Johann were already seated, though Zalia was nowhere to be found. Eclipse was sitting further away from everyone, seeming to be down in the dumps, he didn't even react much when the others arrived.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it," Mandara greeted cheerfully, "sit wherever you like, food will be out in just a moment, I had the cooks make sure that your first taste of the future was perfect."

N: "Thank you," Wolfgang replied, and looking down at the setup before him, "and thankfully you don't have dozens of cutlery like BE."

"Ja, that was a nightmare," Johann chuckled, although his daughter quickly was brought to attention.

The young girl just wasn't able to comfortably sit at the table, although she was slouching a bit, so she turned to her father. "Papa, can I sit on your lap," she asked, puppy eyes activated.

"Ella, you just have to sit up straight and you'll be fine," the Mandorian replied, "you're a big girl now." The puppy eyes persisted so eventually he gave in, inviting the girl over, to which she was definitely happy about.

Getting herself comfortable, and on her human booster seat, she turned to Nikolaus, "look, Niko, I'm taller than you."

"You're cheating," the Saxon complained.

M: The adults chuckled at the children's banter, most of them remembering how Zalia and Johann acted that way when they were little. They were soon distracted as the cooks came out with the dishes and set them on the table. There were different kinds of food that the diners could sample from, there were pastas, meat dishes, salads, and even a container of soup. The chefs did like to give their hosts and guests options. Of course, one chef knows that a specific member of the family demands something before she will eat anything, before every meal, Adira gets her warm milk to drink, and while normally she wants it in a bottle, she is learning to accept in a glass, but as long as she gets it she doesn't mind.

"So, how is the food," MA asked after a while, "I hope that it meets the standards of what we all used to imagine future food tastes like."

N: "It's like we're eating the food of kings," Wolfgang commented, "sure, we've stayed in BE's castle, and the food there was top tier, but it seems like it's only gotten better."

"Food is food," Johann continued, "it just depends on how well you cook it. How are you finding the pasta, Ella?"

The young girl vigorously nodded, making sure she did eat slowly but already fell in love with the dish. "Diolch for the food," she thanked.

M: The Mandarians chuckled at their family's response to the food, for the brothers it brought back memories of their first times eating these dishes. They let them continue to enjoy their food in silence, only the clanking of cutlery and the hums of satisfaction filling the air.

Eventually, Johann decided that is was a little too quiet and decided to strike up a conversation, "so Johann, I heard a rumor that you befriended a dragon, there's a pink dragon that lives up in the United Kingdom, I went up there to study a species of flowers and managed to stay with the royal family, and they talked about how their pet dragon originated from here."

N: "Yup, Edel, the name of the dragon, came from here," Johann nodded, "and if you do have the chance to see him, you would notice the striking resemblance between him and Lord Empyr."

The Mandorian then went on to recount about the time when he was a boy in the kingdom, and of course crazy Ed, quickly explaining how Edel came to be.

"Hopefully the British are treating him and his family well," Johann added.

"What species of flowers were you studying," Wolfgang asked out of curiosity.

M: "Nothing special, I had a theory that Lily of the Valley flowers could be used as an antivenom replacement for certain species of vipers," Johann shrugged, "they are toxic flowers that can severely affect the heart, similar to a recently discovered species of viper native to South America, and I wanted to test if a poisonous flower could cure a venomous bite. The hypothesis was disproven just for the record."

"Edel is doing just fine, we go up there to visit everyone about once every few months," MA added, "although I will say that Edel had grown a bit grumpier after you ... left ... he's not as welcoming to strangers anymore, mostly keeping to those he knows."

"You know, we are supposed to visit them in about three weeks," Poldara pointed out, "Johann, Rowen, and Wolfgang could come with, everyone would love that."

"Maybe, but you know that us two might not be able to make the trip, Russia asked us to help him raid one of those laboratories," his uncle reminded him, "but we'll try, I agree that the British would be happy, I think Esha should be back from her trip by then too."

N: "Esha," Helena and Nikolaus cheered in unison, to which the former added, "she's super fun."

"But she did carry us and flew around the castle," the Saxon mumbled, "she was a bit scary."

"You screamed like a little girl," Ella laughed.

"Halt die Klappe (just shut up), Ella, you did too."

Johann rolled his eyes at their bickering before saying, "I think it would be a great idea to visit Britain, and I bet the kids would love that too."

"But shouldn't we be getting ready now," Wolfgang asked, "surely it would take a week or two to get there, unless you're using your fancy carriage of yours."

M: It took all the strength everyone had not to start laughing, they had to remind themselves that planes didn't exist back then. Mandara was the one who tried to explain what it was and how it could get them there in less than a day, but ultimately decided it was a losing battle telling these poor 1700s people about aircraft.

"You'll see when the time comes," he relented, "it isn't as complicated as it sounds, you basically could take a nap on it and be half way across the world when you wake up."

"I guess so, though I don't know how one could sleep on something that can fly," Rowen whimpered, "after the incident when Derogan dropped me from the sky I would rather not go back up there."

Eclipse snorted a little as that was said, he vaguely remembered that incident, it was funny. When all eyes turned to him though he quickly looked away, partly hiding himself with his wings.

"Hey, it's ok, Clips, you don't have to hide," Johann reasured him, "they're your family after all."

"Jo, you don't understand our relationship," Eclipse muttered defetedly, "they would be more willing to call me a demon than family, and I deserve that."

N: "Odrus was able to keep you under wraps for the most part," Johann spoke, "but you were able to escape from time to time, and you definitely made an impression."

"Probably the only upside for being in France," Wolfgang mumbled.

However, Niko just stared at Ecilpse, trying to remember when he had seen him, and then shrugged, "you seem nice, sir."

M: Eclipse was a bit caught off by Niko's statement, admittedly he never did terrorize the children, but he would have expected Wolfgang and Johann would have used him as boogieman stories for their kids.

"R-really, you think I'm nice," he asked genuinely, "t-thank you, that really means a lot."

"Well, it's good to see that Niko is giving him a chance," Rowen smiled, then stared disappointingly at his Johann and Wolfgang, "he's more of an adult than you two boys, honestly you could learn a thing or two from the children."

N: "At the end of the day," Wolfgang spoke, "we all have the memory of living out our lives, so Niko might actually be more of an adult than I would-"

Johann cleared his throat, hinting to the Saxon to stop, and when the other was confused by the interruption, the Mandorian glanced at Niko. The young boy froze at the mention of 'memory', and he quietly set his soup down and sat silently.

"I'll explain what happened to him later," Johann muttered as Wolfgang hurried to his son's side, concerned by the sudden change in demeanour.

Thankfully, Helena changed the subject, asking about why the Mandarians changed their flag.

M: "Well it was just the obvious thing to do once we were in charge of the kingdom," Mandara explained, "we had changed the government to a democracy instead of staying a monarchy, there also wasn't really anything left of the old kingdom, the ruins of the castle was the only building left partly standing. We had to build our country from scratch, so if our home was changing then it was only fair that the flag changed too."

"We kept a homage to Father's flag though," MA added, "we kept the four stars and the family crest, though the ones on our faces don't show that, here," he reached into his pocket and put on his eyepatch, "this is what the full flag looks like."

While the others were talking about flags, Eclipse looked guiltily at Niko, he felt like it was his fault that the kid got triggered. He stood up and knelt to his side, trying not to make any sudden movements that would alarm Wolfgang.

"Hey kid, don't be upset, memories are nothing bad," he said softly, drying the Saxon's tears with a napkin, "I get that some can be painful, trust me, I have my own fair share of ones that hurt, but there are still the good memories too. It will take time for the pain to heal, and you can never truly forget it, but instead of dwelling on them, remember the good memories, and focus on making even better ones, then it won't hurt as much."

He smiled a little as he thought of something to cheer him up, "Hey you want to see me do an impression of your dad?"

Without waiting for a response, he stood up and shifted into a convincing replica of Wolfgang, "I am Wolfgang I am short and angry and I will whoop all your asses, I sure hope Erna isn't around she makes me feel emotions my brain can't compute then I become all red melty in her hands.

N: Niko proceeded to laugh at the Wolfgang lookalike, giggling at the Erna part. However, Wolfgang just pouted, rolling his eyes at the Mandarian.

"Is that really necessary," he grumbled, "I'm not angry, and I'm definitely not short."

"Sureeeee," Johann chuckled, although he did get a hard slap on the head for his comment, "I mean, Eclipse isn't wrong."

M: Everyone else laughed along with Niko and Johann, which really boosted Eclipse's self-esteem. Although he would have loved to do more, he didn't want to cross any lines with Wolfie, besides, he accomplished his goal anyway, so he unshifted and patted Niko's head, going back to his spot with a smile on his face.

"He's right, you did always have this resting bit- resting angry attitude," Mandara chuckled, "that just meant that whenever we dragged you along with us for pranks that no one would fight us back."

"You two used him as a meat shield for pranking," Poldara asked, and when he was given an affirmative answer he shook his head, "honestly, no wonder Pops and Aunt Belarus always claimed you guys were gremblins."

"Hey," the brothers said in unison, earning more laughter from Rowen.

N: "They all are," Wolfgang said as he went back to his seat, pointing at MA, Mandara and Johann, "those three are all cretinous gremlins."

"Relax, it was fine, wasn't it," Johann smirked, "nothing happened, right?"

The Saxon stared at him as if he was stupid, "we all got burnt by Esha because of one of the pranks we pulled on her. From everyone, she's the one of the few people who didn't give a damn if I was the 'meat shield', and I knew from the start it was a bad idea. Who's idea was it again to make her drop into a pool of tar then dump feathers on her WHILE SHE WAS ALSEEP?!"

M: Mandara pointed at MA, but in turn, the latter pointed back, apparently Johann had nothing to do with it.

"I don't remember that one, but I do remember that you did the exact same prank on your father," Rowen commented, "don't tell me we're doing to see that a third time."

"No, Trigger and I grew out of that quite fast, what with all the wars that came after we had the country up and running," MA reassured him, "honestly, I feel like pranks kind of died after our generation, Poldara and the twins weren't really pranksters."

N: "Same for ours," Johann added, "the kids quickly lost the mood for pranks and understandably so."

"So no pranks," Wolfgang asked, and when he got nods from everyone, he nodded, "Gut, I can't believe I was dragged into your plans."

M: "Because you liked doing them, you can't lie about that," Mandara chuckled, "I remember the one you came up with, where we put glue along the rim of BE's crown and he was stuck wearing it for two whole days."

"And then his face when he finally agreed to shave his hair to get it off, it almost made me feel bad for doing it," MA added, "he was so sad for weeks after, he didn't want anyone to see him until his hair grew back."

N: "Speaking of BE, how is he these days," Wolfgang asked, smiling as he remembered the prank, "hopefully with the absence of an empire he now has less pressure on his shoulders. And with his two sons now their own countries, he would have less to stress about."

"You've restored the alliance between you and him, right?" Johann asked.

M: "Well, technically no, we've both kind of just went our own ways once the country was restored," MA admitted, "we're still good friends with the British family, we're all just doing our own things now. UK is certainly much more relaxed and distressed now, he and France had patched things up and had two more kids, twin boys named Australia and New Zealand, they are well grown up now but their parents are practically unrecognizable now, almost how our fathers were with each other."

"That is crazy, I never would have thought to BE and FE could actually be lovie dovie with each other, it almost sounds impossible," Rowen commented, "how did that happen?"

"That's a privet story, trust us, it's not a good one," Mandara said, "all I'll say is that it's about the same as how my husband and I realized our love for each other."

MA patted his brother's shoulder in comfort, who nodded in acceptance but said nothing.

N: Wolfgang subtly nodded and left it at that, so dinner went on quietly with the occasional conversation.

Eventually, Helena grew tired, and after finishing her food, turned around so that she was sat facing Johann and rested on his shoulder, and as soon as she did, she fell asleep.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed," the Mandorian quietly chuckled when he realised that his daughter was asleep, "thank you for the dinner, it's been wonderful."

"Same here," the Saxon agreed before turning to his son, struggling to stay awake, "and we need to get you to bed too."

"Nein," Niko insisted, although it was clear that he was tired, "I don't want to sleep."

M: "I can help with that," Eclipse said, "I know just the thing you need."

He waved his hands around and materialized a dreamcatcher, it was quite beautifully crafted, its silver threads sparkled in the light, and hanging from them were little star and moon ornaments that faintly glowed blue.

"Here, it's a dreamcatcher, it catches the bad dreams so you only dream of good things," he said, sliding it over to the boy.

"Eclipse, are you secretly trying to adopt Niko, you seem to like him," Johann joked.

"Like him, yes, adopt, no, I just know how he feels, to be a child with adult memories, that's all."

N: "Danke," Nikolaus thanked as he retrieved the dream catcher, to which Wolfgang also smiled.

"Hopefully the both of us can sleep well tonight," he chuckled, ruffling his son's hair, "anyway, no point avoiding it now. Zeit zum Schlafen (time to sleep)."

"Ok, Vater," Niko nodded before hopping off his seat and just turned to the Mandarians. Although he knew they were close to him, he still had the feeling of uneasiness around them from the centuries of change so instead he just waved.

"Gute Nacht, everyone," Johann spoke as he carefully got out of his seat with Helena in his arms.