M:   Mandoria was hesitant about going in the carriage, he never liked them because his wings were always too big for him to get into one, back home he opted to ride in a chariot if he needed to but would usually just fly. Even though his wings weren't as big as they were before, the last few weeks have allowed new feathers to slowly start growing, making it difficult to sit comfortably in the carriage but not impossible.

The ride wasn't as pleasant as it was supposed to be, Rowen and Johann had no problem dozing off but Mandoria was too uncomfortable to, eventually having the driver stop so he could get out and just ride on Edel. While he did, he decided to chat with Anglo about life after Prussia became king, "-Saxon has brought us up to date about you and Wales dealing with King Prussia, and I know that many countries have tried to challenge him until Commonwealth fell, have you rejected his rule yet, I know it's a stupid question but I'm just worried that Prussia might try to come here and if you two still 'put up with him' per se, he would have the authority to."

N:   Anglo grumbled at the mention of Prussia, "I know that through Wing Law, he is now King Wing, but I was hesitant from the start, but after he killed Commonwealth, I had enough."

He turned to face the country, "as for if he would come here, BE made it clear to him that if he were to come here without his permission, it would be equivalent to declaring war on him, and when we heard that Prussia was in Spain, it only strengthened BE's demand, as we have recently been against the Kingdom of Spain."

Not wanting to continue with the topic of Prussia, Anglo spoke, "So, it has been a while since we last saw each other, and although we did say that we would visit, circumstance prevented us to." He looked back inside the carriage, "it seems like little Johann has grown into a young man."

M:   "Yes he did," Mandoria said, silently glad the subject was changed, "don't let it fool you though he is still as mischievous as he was back then. Though he is more reserved now, we all are after what we've been through, but it's to be expected. Anyway, I'm just glad that we are here and able to see you guys again, it would also be nice to see BE again but understand if he is too busy."

The two chatted the whole trip, reminiscing about the good days and bringing each other up to speed about the past three years, Mandoria felt it nice to get everything off his chest, he felt that Anglo understood him better than Saxon since he had wings too.

As dawn slowly approached Mandoria woke up from unknowingly falling asleep on Edel's back, he stretched and saw the compound in the distance, smiling and saying to Anglo, "After weeks of avoiding settlements, it's nice to see one and not be afraid of being caught."

N:   "Well, I hope you will feel right at home," Anglo smiled, and when they approached the gates, the guards opened them to let them in, the carriages forming a semicircle as they entered. Once they stopped, Anglo stepped off the carriage, opening the doors to check on everyone. The people were sleeping, so the country gently shook them awake, "we have arrived," he told them, and he took a step back, "Welcome to Windsor Castle."

"Far better than London," Saxon added, "that city is a mess." Anglo nodded in agreement, allowing time for the people to step out.

"Your horses will be taken care of," he said, "as well as the carts and your belongings, just follow Saxon here and he will take you to the guest wing."

M:   The Mandorians all did as told and followed Saxon inside, though they weren't able to get very far in before Edel picked up on a scent, stopping and loudly sniffing the air. Before anyone could do anything the dragon was already walking away, following the scent like a bloodhound.

"Edel where are you going," Rowen called after him, when he didn't get a response he said, "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," and ran after him, Mandoria and Johann joining him.

Edel zig-zagged through the castle hallways, giving a few servants heart attacks as he passed them, and eventually making his way to a large set of doors. The scent was coming from inside so he pushed them open and froze, inside was a ballroom but what made him stop was who was sitting in the middle of it.

Even though the figure was facing away from him Edel instantly recognized England, he wagged his tail with joy and roared to get his attention.

N:   Confused by the sound, there Englishman turned around and saw Edel, and he blinked a couple of times, wondering if he was imagining things. The country looked skinnier than usual, heavy bags under his eyes as his hair was tied back in a rough bun. On the table was a whiskey bottle, and when he first heard the door, he instinctively hid it, thinking it was Anglo, who would come and take it away.

He stood up and slowly made his way to the dragon, and when he did, he tentatively reached out his hand and touched his fur. His glassy eyes looked into Edel's golden one as if he was looking at a ghost. For a couple of minutes, the country was stunned, his expression blank as he stared at Edel.

Finally, a small grin crept on his face as he spoke hoarsely, "I've missed you, Edel," and he gave the dragon the largest hug possible. Tears ran down his face, his sobs filled with joy and happiness, happy that he has reunited with the dragon.

M:   Edel actually whined when England hugged him, he looked awful and it concerned the dragon, so he sat down and wrapped his wings around England, purring gently to say that everything was going to be ok now.

When the Mandorians finally found them they let the two have their moment first, Mandoria and Rowen were shocked to see England in such a state, they knew he had taken a turn but they weren't prepared for what they saw.

Edel noticed them standing there so he lowered his wings just enough so England could see them, then Mandoria asked, "England, is that you, my god, what happened to you?"

N:   England opened an eye and saw the Mandorians, smiling when he saw them all alive, "I guess I fall pretty hard when I lose someone," the country mumbled. He just clung onto Edel, holding him as if he was going to go any second, and added, "especially a parental figure like Edel."

When he had finally calmed down, he let go of the dragon and stepped aside, "I'm sorry that you have to see me like this," he apologized, "I wouldn't be like this ... usually."

M:   Mandoria just shook his head and too hugged England, "You're not the only one, my friend, we've all been where you are now, whether currently or in the past, and now that we're here we can help each other heal. It's just so good to see you."

Edel butted in and whined, earning a chuckle, "though I don't think anyone missed you more than Edel did."

He stepped away so the dragon could nuzzle England and his eyes landed on his flank and the eagles branded into them, "England, just a warning, try not to accidentally touch Edel's flanks, he has tried to bite anyone who does, including us."

N:   England took a look at the brand marks, and he quickly guessed who made them. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, and his tone was slowly getting angry, "and if I see that feathered bastard, I'll make sure he will pay."

"The whole point of the 'declaring war with King Prussia', Father," said a voice behind them, "was in the hope that he will not come to this land." Johann turned around to see an empire standing behind them, his red cape with fur resting behind him as his lilac eyes flickered between the Mandorians, cogs turning in his head as he registered the new faces, as well as a familiar one.

"So you must be Johann," British Empire stated, "and you are Rowen." Finally, when he looked at Mandoria, he smiled, "And my old friend, Mandoria. Welcome to my home."

M:  "British Empire," Mandoria said, he was surprised to see him there but quickly shook it off and smiled tiredly, "You have no idea how much it means to hear that, I can't thank you enough for taking us in."

Edel stepped forward when BE came and sniffed him, curious about the newcomer. Rowen chuckled and pat him, "It's ok Edel, this is England's son, he's not a threat."

Satisfied with the answer, Edel backed up and sat with England again, he definitely wasn't going to leave his side for a long time. Mandoria smiled at that but turned the conversation back to the more pressing matter at hand, "BE, I think we all know that King Prussia not coming here is wishful thinking, he may not have as big of an army as you but he is still King Wing, he has the authority to call winged countries to battle with him and even if the majority of them reject his rule they are bound by ancient winged law to obey him, Anglo and Wales included. He will come, I guarantee you it, the question is what are we going to do when he does?"

N:   BE's face turned serious at the question, "Us Brits have prided ourselves with our defenses, we are surrounded by a body of water, and our state-of-the-art navy is hard to penetrate, but the problem is the air." He looked at England, wondering if he should continue, to which the father nodded since there was no point hiding. The empire sighed, "Follow me to the green, and I'll explain."

As they walked, BE explained, "We needed to know how to defend our skies, but we haven't shared it with you because we aimed to have a good relationship with the King Wing, to avoid any attacks; however, with Prussia now holding that title, we had to change tactics. To know how to defend ourselves, we had to ... study how winged countries work."

When they reached the Royal Gardens, which were a few gardens within a large field, they could hear in the distance shooting, as well as a person zipping through the air, dodging the shots. "We couldn't use my Grandpa, Anglo, since it wouldn't give us reliable information, and Wales wasn't going to be suitable either, so we have another winged country who volunteered to help us."

When the winged country saw them in the distance, she landed, causing the British soldiers who were shooting to stop, and they saluted when the empire came near. The winged country wore an eyepatch bearing the British Empire flag over her right eye, and upon seeing Mandoria, she froze. She gave an angry look at BE, who only shrugged, "You will eventually have to expose yourself."

He turned to the Mandorians, "May I introduce to you, Royal, you may not recognize her as she hasn't attended your meeting before." Royal's lapis eye examined the Mandorians, not sure what to do, but she held out her hand.

M:   "Royal huh," Mandoria said, shaking her hand, "a fitting name for a British country, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss."

The former king took a moment to study her wings, taking into consideration the shape and size to determine her threat level in the air, an old habit that he never shook off. He found it notable how Royal's wings were very similar to his and Prussia's, albeit much smaller, most likely the reason why she volunteered.

"I must say that I am impressed with your maneuverability," Mandoria complimented, "as someone who had passive soaring wings I know it can be difficult to make such sharp turns and bank on a dime, if Prussia didn't challenge me I would have been worried about taking you on in the sky, I definitely wouldn't have stood a chance."

N:   "Umm, thanks," she replied, not used to handling compliments, "and it is nice to finally meet you, Sir Mandoria."

"So, Royal," Johann spoke, "have you been in the British Isles the whole time?"

"Yes," she nodded, "well, mostly. I would sometimes visit the mainland, but not often. I would stay here and help out BE with the empire from home. My brother would be the one who would travel, going to the different colonies to see how they were doing."

"On that topic," BE spoke up, "when we received the letter from my Grandfather, I sent a letter to Royal's brother to try and search for Mandara and Derogan. He would cover as far as India to France, and Grandfather would cover the countries with an insurgent."

M:   When Mandoria heard this he was beyond elated, "Thank you BE, thank you so much, I don't know what we would have done without all of you."

Rowen nodded in agreement and stepped forward, "and to repay this kindness, we want to help you do some healing of your own ..." he turned behind them to where Edel and England were, "... clearly our capture had taken its toll on more than just us, and we hope that now that we're here it will help England mend."

N:   England dipped his head, standing close to Edel, while BE nodded, "it surely will," he answered and he turned to his father, "although it will take some time for me to see my Father as a son rather than a parent."

"We have four generations under one roof," England shook his head, "of course, it is going to be weird."

Royal just looked at the dragon and gave England a look, "So, you are telling me that this dragon was the one who adopted you," to which the country nodded, so she said, "Sometimes, I'm happy that I'm not actually related to you guys because I will be confused with everything you do."

"Have you actually seen how Edel acts, "Johann asked, "he will be the largest puppy ever but when he is with England, he is his mama hen."

M:   Mandoria and Rowen chuckled, Edel just purred and gave England a tiny kiss, then opened his jaws and let out a large yawn.

"You can say that again, buddy," Rowen said, "I am dead exhausted, Saxon already took the others to their rooms and I think I'll join them, Johann, Mandoria, are you coming?"

"In a minute, I want to stay and watch Royal so I can see what BE has planned for Prussia when he comes," Mandoria said, Rowen nodded and turned to his son for his response.

N:   "How could I refuse not going to sleep," Johann spoke, stifling a yawn, "I'm coming with you."

"If so," BE said, beckoning a soldier, "one of my men will lead you to your rooms where you will rest. I'm sure you need it after your journey." The soldier bowed before leading them back inside, leaving BE, Mandoria, Royal, and the rest of the soldiers.

When they had left, BE spoke to Royal, "Let's give the soldiers a chance. Why don't you wear a blindfold?" The winged country grumbled as she pulled out a blindfold from her pouch, taking off her eyepatch to reveal her other lapis eye.

"Should I first-" she began, but the empire interrupted.

"Yes, you should," he said firmly, "don't let her slip." Royal nodded and closed her eyes, and just as she opened them, she put on the blindfold. Giving the thumbs up to BE, he ordered her to stand in the middle of the dozen of soldiers, who had their weapons ready.

"Whenever you're ready," he called out, and the winged country nodded, and for a moment she stood perfectly still. Suddenly, she shot into the air, causing the soldiers to fire, aiming to shoot her down, and targeting her wings. She twisted in the air, able to anticipate a shot, and although some did land, she largely was able to stay in the air. After a while, BE told Royal to start attacking the men, which she did.

Swooping down, she body-slammed a soldier down, taking his sword and dueling the men. A group of soldiers brought a cannon, aimed at her, and fired; however, she dodged it.

When it seemed that she was going to win, BE gave the nod to a couple of soldiers who were standing behind, one of them holding a tuning fork, and another holding what seemed to be some sort of amplifier. "Brace yourself for this," the Brit warned, and when the soldier hit it against a pole, the frequency amplified and echoed throughout the field. The shockwave caused Royal's wings to respond by vibrating uncontrollably, incapacitating her as she collapsed. She was able to block a few attacks, but she was soon overpowered, lying on the ground in defeat.

M:   Mandoria was both fascinated and worried with Royal's training, whistling when she would dodge the attacks and flinching every time she would get hurt. He's never been shot at before in the sky so wouldn't have had the skills to do half the things she did, it impressed him.

When BE told him to brace himself, Mandoria was confused about what he meant and what he should brace for, so when the frequency was let loose he was completely unprepared. Since he was closer to the shockwave, it hit him harder and his wings vibrated to the point of physically hurting, but that wasn't all, since his body was built differently than a wingless country the frequency made his muscles seize up and his heart skip a beat. He shouted out in pain and fell to the ground, his brain unable to figure out what the fuck just happened.

N:   BE saw Mandoria collapse and swore under his breath, immediately calling everyone to stop, and ordering the nearby medics to come and take care of Mandoria. Soon after, Anglo flew towards them and landed nearby, shocked at seeing the country on the ground.

"What the hell was that," the elder country yelled, his head still ringing from the vibration, and he saw the soldier with the tuning fork, "what is that supposed to be?"

"It was something Wilfred and I were developing on," BE replied, "with his scientific knowledge, we were able to produce a frequency that affects winged countries." Anglo stared at him angrily when he heard the response, "I just didn't know how effective it was."

"Effective," Royal yelled, clinging onto her head. The frequency, in comparison to the attacks, hurt her more, and it was so high that she went nearly deaf. BE saw her as she ripped off her blindfold, and his face fell when he saw that her right iris was bronze instead of the usual lapis blue. "You are telling me that my brother helped you with this," she demanded, wobbling to her feet and marching up the empire.

"He advised that we would test it out beforehand," the empire replied, standing his ground, "but I always told him that we try it out."

"Of course, he told you that," she snapped, "because he is not reckless like you."

"Wren, calm down," Anglo spoke, standing between them, "your shouting is not going to help anyone." When she looked at him blankly, he realized he wasn't speaking loud enough, so he communicated with his wings instead, with some difficulty.

"Currently, the only thing keeping me from falling is me," Wren grumbled, "you knocked out Royal." She glanced over to the medics helping Mandoria, "and he is in a worse state."

M:   Mandoria just lay there in a daze, in his 300,000 years of life he had never experienced something like that before, and his body was trying to reboot itself from what it experienced. When the medics determined that there was nothing broken or damaged they let him have a moment to collect himself, and after a few minutes, he was slowly able to sit up.

"What was that," he groaned, holding his head, "Tes Muler, it felt like my body just exploded on the inside, lord help any countryhuman who has to endure that."

N:   "Well it seems like it works," BE spoke, getting a scolding look from both Wren and Anglo, "it is an observation."

"An annoying observation," Wren pointed out, "I'm going to have a word with Wil." She then glanced over to Mandoria, "And you are?"

"He's Mandoria," Anglo quickly answered, "Royal already greeted him," he gave a side glance at the other, "were you not paying attention."

"I was relaxing," she shrugged, "the soldiers got boring so I just zoned out." She turned to Mandoria and spoke, "We haven't met, well you technically did but didn't at the same time. I'm Wren."

M:   Mandoria was initially confused at Royal now calling herself Wren, but when his head stopped spinning he remembered that there were countryhumans who had split personalities.

"Oh, you're a Hybrid," he deduced, "well it's nice to meet you, Mis. Wren, my name is Mandoria." he neglected to say his full name since without a kingdom he wasn't exactly the Kingdom of Mandoria anymore, or at least that's how he viewed it.

He carefully stood with the help of the medics and took a moment to stop his legs from shaking, "Wow, 300,000 years and I have never experienced something like that before, how on earth did you figure that out BE, and how do we protect ourselves from that if you use it against Prussia?"

N:   "For how we figured it out," BE began, "that was during Wren's testing. We always knew she was sensitive to the different senses, so we tried out different frequencies to see her range of hearing, but that's when we stumbled across the frequency used earlier. As for the second question, I have no idea. It is a prototype and Wil and I haven't figured out a way to focus it on a target or protect ourselves."

Meanwhile, Wren looked at Mandoria, dumbfounded that he knew what she was, and she was about to speak when she felt Royal's consciousness stirring, so she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, her right eye was back to normal; however, she looked dizzy.

"What the hell was that," Royal said, "it felt as if a whole entire building collapsed on me." She opened up her wings and sighed, "And I got shot too."

"Blame BE for the first thing," Anglo said, "and let's take both you and Mandoria inside." She nodded and put on her eyepatch again, and walked back, with BE close by to support her. "Sorry about that," the country apologized to Mandoria, "sometimes it gets a little crazy around here."

M:    "Don't worry, it's not my first time in the British Isles," Mandoria chuckled ruefully, "though hopefully, it will be a little more peaceful from here forward, my head is still trying to figure out what happened."

As if to prove a point, when he tried to walk he swayed and was very unstable, ending up falling on his butt and looking quite pale, whatever that frequency was it affected him worse since he was in such a close range.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Mandoria whimpered, holding his hand against his mouth and groaning.

N:   "Oh no," Anglo muttered, and he called a medic to bring a sick bag for Mandoria, "just take your time, ok?"

The country knelt and waited patiently for Mandoria to recover, rubbing his back as he quietly reassured him. After a few used sick bags and reassuring words, Anglo further checked if the Mandorian was ok. "BE better find a way to make some sort of protection," he voiced his thoughts, "otherwise it will be detrimental to everyone."

He stood up and asked, "Are you alright to stand up now?"

M:   "I don't know," Mandoria groaned, "I think so, at least till we get inside."

With the help of Anglo and the medics he stood and leaned against them to steady himself, then they slowly made their way inside. He wasn't sure if he could handle going up any stairs yet so opted to just sit in one of the common rooms, collapsing on a couch in front of a fireplace.

"I swear I have gotten sick more times in the past month than I have in centuries," he said, leaning against a pillow on the couch, "just my luck I guess."

N: "This was not what I had in mind for your first day," Anglo said. He grabbed for a chair and sat down, placing his head in his hands, "why cannot one day be a quiet day?"

"So I'm guessing this is not a good time to enter yet," spoke BE from the entrance, causing Anglo to jump slightly. When the winged country said it was ok, the younger country entered and sat on a chair near Mandoria. "Sorry about earlier," he said, "I guess I got ahead of myself."

The empire cleared his throat before continuing, "You all will stay here until we find a suitable home for each of you, but for you to move out may be delayed as long as there is a chance of Prussia attacking."

M:   Mandoria nodded, "I understand, I don't want to burden you longer than necessary, I sincerely hope that Prussia stays away this time, but I have my doubts," he paused for a moment before adding, "Well, I suppose the least I can do is show you what you're up against, because even though he is cruel at the best of times, you have not seen him as I have, you do not know his cruelty like I have experienced it for three godforsaken years."

With that, he took off his shirt to show the countries his broken and scared body, even turning away so they could see what happened to his wings. "That is what happened after I tried to fight back upon hearing about Commonwealth's death, I dare not imagine what he would do to me now if he managed to take me again."

N:   Both Anglo and BE were in shock at Mandoria's state, and when they saw his wings, Anglo was fuming, knowing how precious a winged country's wings are to them. "My lord," BE mumbled, "this is a whole new level of cruelty.

"He's the bloody devil, that's what he is," Anglo snapped, something inside him burning from seeing a fellow winged being's wings damaged, especially by another of their kind, "actually, let me correct that, the fucking devil would even find that cruel." He turned to Mandoria, his wings bristling with anger, "That bastard is not going anywhere near you to hurt you ever again, niemals (never)."

"Grandpa," BE spoke wearily.

"Ja?"

"Your wings," he pointed out, so Anglo turned and saw them bristled and fluffed out, so he sighed and tried to calm himself down, smoothing down the feathers. In the end, he just crossed his arms, silently directing his anger at Prussia.

When Anglo was quiet, BE asked, "Mandoria, how exactly are the wing laws enforced? Is there anything stopping Wales, Anglo, or Royal from joining Prussia to fight?"

M:   Mandoria thought about it as he put his shirt back on, "My memory is a little fuzzy about the fine details, three years of being broken down to a sex slave takes its toll on one's brain, the frequency weapon didn't exactly help either."

He dug deep into his brain trying to remember anything that could help them, "I honestly don't know, the tradition of King Wing has been around since long before I was born, there could be something in the ancient laws but I can't think of it, though there is one thing I know."

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, "The only way for a King Wing to be crowned is if the old one is defeated in fair combat, if the current king dies at the hands of a wingless, there will be no one to take his place as of course, a wingless can never rule over wings. No matter how much we despise him or if he comes here, he is immune, lest we destroy the winged community forever."

N:   "And we don't want to do that," BE spoke, leaning back as he thought of any way out of it, "we need to try to avoid direct contact with Prussia, find a way to minimize the effects of the frequency cannon, and if we do make direct with Prussia, find a way to defeat him without destroying the winged community." He furrowed his brows, "that is a lot of this to fulfill," and he turned to Mandoria, "if you remember anything from the wing laws later, anything at all, a loophole, it will be appreciated."

He looked outside to see the sun high in the sky and said, "I better be heading off now, duty calls." Standing up, he wished Mandoria a swift recovery before leaving him and Anglo alone.

"You must be tired," Anglo finally spoke up, and he beckoned a servant, "You may rest here if you wish, and this servant will be here to assist you with anything you need. Once you believe you're well rested, just ask them to call for me so I can take you to the dining hall. Is there anything you need now?"

M:   "Maybe keeping your grandson away from tuning forks," Mandoria joked, trying to lighten the mood, "no, I'll be ok, just a glass of water and some decent sleep for now, and Anglo, thank you, I guess we're even now from when I saved Saxon."

After bidding Anglo good day and watching him leave, Mandoria got comfortable on the couch and lay down facing the back so his wings could hang off the front. The servant retrieved a glass of water and blanket for the tired country and closed the curtains so it would be nice and dark, he was just about to leave when Mandoria asked, "Can you stay here please, I don't like sleeping alone."

"Of course sir," the servant said, so he quickly left to get something and came back with a candle and book, sitting in a chair in the corner so as not to disturb Mandoria, who by then had drifted off into a much-needed sleep.