N:   Several hours later, Wales was wandering through the corridors, wondering where his father disappeared to. He began to wonder why the castle was quieter than usual since he was away in the morning, so he guessed that England was in his room. Arriving at his door, he felt a strange vibration in his wings, but he quickly dismissed it when he knocked on the door, "Father, are you in there?"

There was no response, but by this point, he had gotten used to it in the past three years, so he opened the door anyway, "Father, I saw the bottle in the hall. You need to get out and have some-", he spoke, but he abruptly stopped when he saw a large dragon in the room. The room was dark, the curtains drawn as England lay asleep; however, Edel wrapped himself around him as the country curled up into the dragon.

Wales' own wings started to flutter with nervousness as he backed himself out of the room, but he stopped the moment he saw Edel's golden eye.

M:   Edel actually couldn't feel any vibrations, not being a countryhuman he lacked the sensors in his wings, the vibrations he put off were more of a byproduct of his magical origins that winged countries could detect. What woke Edel was the sent of Wale's reptilian wings and tail, he raised his head and stared at the intruder, studying him and trying to determine his motive.

He kept staring until England moved and clung to his fur, drawing his attention from Wales to his treasure. England started mumbling in his sleep and whimpered a little like he was having a nightmare, so Edel shifted so he was in a more comfortable position and gently licked his hair to calm him. Once the country was settled down Edel curled around him a little tighter and lay his head down, softly grumbling at Wales, not as a threat, just to tell him to not disturb England right now.

N:   Wales understood the message so he quietly closed the door behind him as he left. Once outside, he breathed out in relief, not knowing he was holding his breath in the first place, and muttered, "That just happened."

Wanting an explanation, he headed to where Anglo was, and when he was allowed in, he immediately asked about Edel. "Do you remember when we talked about a dragon adopting your father," Anglo spoke, to which Wales nodded, "Well, that's him."

Wales blinked a couple of times, processing the information, until a small smile appeared on his face, "at least Father is getting better now, and I think someone's taking your job," getting a chuckle from the older country, but he added, "is Mandoria here?"

"Yes, he is," Anglo nodded, "but he's resting now."

When he got his answer, Wales headed off to check on Mandoria, and when he opened the door to the common room, the servant was the first person to see him.

M:   The servant looked up when Wales came in and put a finger to his mouth for him to be quiet, then motioned for him to come over.

"Sir Mandoria has been sleeping for the past few hours but has been quite restless," he explained, "he's been having constant nightmares, and because of British Empire's new weapon he had become quite sick."

Just as he finished that sentence, Mandoria started whimpering and crying in his sleep.

"No, please Prussia ... d-don't do it, please stop ... it hurts, p-please," he muttered, his feathers starting to vibrate from fear.

N:   Wales was confused by the weapon the servant mentioned but turned his attention to Mandoria. Concerned by what he said, he walked up and knelt beside him, and although he didn't have feathered wings, the vibrations from the Mandorian were enough for him to detect them, so he knew from just that that the nightmare was really bad.

"Shush Mandoria," he spoke softly, "Prussia is not here, you are safe." He tried to vibrate his own wings to help calm him down, but it was barely detectable since they were reptilian.

M:   Mandoria didn't feel the vibrations, his few remaining feathers were too thin and weak to pick them up.

The country continued to tremble and whimper until his dream decided it was done tormenting him and he woke with a scream, jolting up in a cold sweat and heavily breathing, slowly subsiding into sobs as he struggled to handle all the emotions

N:   Wales flinched from the shout, falling on his butt when he jolted, but he quickly came up to Mandoria's side. "Mandoria, it's ok," he said, rubbing his back, "just let it all out."

M:   Mandoria flinched when Wales spoke, it took him a second to calm down enough to realize what happened and he went back to crying. He let his emotions go for a few minutes until he ran out of tears, only able to sniffle and wipe his eyes.

"S-sorry you had to see that, Wales," he murmured, "I'm not like I once was."

N:   "You shouldn't apologize for crying," Wales replied, "keeping it all in would only hurt you. And-," he paused as he took a better look at Mandoria's state, "I can see you're not the same." He handed the country a handkerchief to tidy himself up, "but I'm by far happy to see you here and alive. After we all attended your funeral, we felt as if we should have done something, do anything more to help."

A knock on the door came, and when it opened, Anglo poked his head in, "Is everything ok in here?"

M:  "Yeah, I think so," Mandoria said to Anglo's question, "just a nightmare, that's all." He took a moment to dry his eyes before responding to Wales, "My funeral, normally you only have those when one is dead. Actually, scratch that, I am dead, the Kingdom of Mandoria died the day Prussia drove his swords into my stomach, a king who thought of himself as fair and noble had been slaughtered and resurrected as an empty shell of what he once was."

He buried his head in his hands and groaned, "I don't know what I am anymore, I'm not Mandoria, he died with honor, I'm just a worthless slave who escaped his owner, I just don't know anymore."

N:   "If you ask me, you are Mandoria," Anglo said, walking up to the country, "the Mandoria I know was not only a king but a friend, someone who took in Saxon, protecting him from danger. He was also the father of two sons, who both loved him dearly, who confessed his love to Rowen, and took in Johann as his own. Although now you may not have a kingdom, the name Mandoria means more than just a king to the people around you."

He sat down on a chair, resting his elbows on his knees, "I spoke to Saxon about your time in the Kingdom of Prussia, and I believe you had every right to reject and hate every Prussian that came your way, but that you accepted them shows you are still fair. However, it is not my place to make you decide who you are, that's up to you to figure out, but I believe you are someone who had woken up from hibernation after three years of subjugation and has not yet realized you have woken up."

M:   Mandoria looked up to Anglo, taking in what he said as he steadied his breathing.

"Then when will I wake up," he said, mostly to himself, "when will I be free of this nightmare?"

Becoming tired of the conversation, he shifted in his seat and asked Anglo, "How are you and Miss Royal doing, I know I took the brunt of the impact of BE's frequency but you also were affected by it, are you doing alright?"

N:   "I was much further away from the cannon, but I was seeing everything in double for a while, and my wings were the only thing helping me navigate and not walk into something," but his face turned to one of worry, "but Royal isn't doing very well. You were able to tell she is a Hybrid, and because of that, her senses are more heightened than ordinary countryhumans, so you could only imagine the impact of the frequency on her."

"BE shouldn't have done that," Wales spoke up, "Royal doesn't even like living in cities like London since she finds everything too loud."

The older Englishman only sighed, "She was able to get her hearing partially back, but it will take some time before her senses are not in overdrive." The country stood up, "Now is about time for lunch, and we will see if she attends, but now, have you rested enough?"

M:   "Yes, I definitely feel much better," Mandoria announced, "I hope Rowen and Johann were able to also get the sleep they deserved."

The country stood up and stretched, spreading out his wings to help wake up his body. He stopped to give them a once over and smiled at the small pin feathers growing in the gaps, "Well, at least my wings are still healthy enough to start growing new feathers, that's a good sign I guess." He gave them a few test flaps and was satisfied when no feathers fell out, "guess my wings are less dead than I thought they were."

N:   "See, progress," Anglo smiled, "you will get your feathers back in no time." He turned to the servant and asked him to go with Wales and call their guests for lunch. When they were about to leave, the Welsh waved before disappearing into the maze of corridors. When he had left, he lead Mandoria to the dining hall.

While the Englishman was leading, Wales walked with the servant to the guest wing, and he knocked on the first door nearest to him. "Hello, my name is Wales," he called through, "are you awake in there?"

Inside, Johann slept, Rowen lying next to him as the son didn't want to be on his own as he slept. He didn't register the voice at the door since he was tightly hugging his pillow, trapped in a nightmare.

M:   Rowen did hear Wales and blinked his eyes open, however, his attention was immediately diverted to Johann. He sat up and slowly stroked his son's hair while whispering reassuring things, a trick that always calmed him down even when he was a boy. Wales knocked again but Rowen wouldn't answer until Johann was calmed down, only then did he slip out of bed and answer the door.

"Dahver Sir Wales," he said when he opened the door, walking out and quietly closing it behind him, "sorry I kept you waiting, usually a son's nightmares are a more pressing matter to take care of. Anyway, my name is Rowen, is there something you need?"

N:   "Oh, umm, I'm sorry if I disturbed you," Wales began, "I was only going to tell you that we will have lunch soon, so we were wondering if you were able to join us."

In the opposite room, Wolfgang stepped out of his room, wearing more casual clothing instead of his uniform, and he took one good look at Wales. "You're short," he said bluntly.

"Let me tell you, sir," the country spoke firmly, his tail swishing from side to side, that I am perfectly fine with my height, and you don't need to point it out."

"It's alright, Sir Wales," Johann called out from the bed, smirking as he spoke, "he's just self-conscious about his height."

"No I'm not," the Prussian snapped, getting a snicker from the Mandorian.

M:   Rowen too snickered at Wolfgang's denial, "well, considering you're one of the shortest out of our travel group, Wolfgang, I'm surprised you didn't say 'you're tall' to Sir Wales." he teased, then said to Wales, "we'll gladly join you for lunch, though I don't suppose you know where Mandoria is, he stayed to watch a winged country named Royal train and he never came up to rest, which worries me because it's harder for him to hold onto energy than the rest of us."

N:   "Mandoria is fine," Wales confirmed, "he's with my Grandpa right now, and before that, he was resting."

After that, he went around and asked everyone to get ready for lunch, and once everyone was, he and the servant gradually led them downstairs to the dining hall. When he opened the doors, he revealed the large interiors, decorations in gold, and different precious metals scattered across the walls. In the center was one single long table, and at one end sat Mandoria and Anglo.

M:   "-I must say that I am astounded by the accents of the room," Mandoria was saying to Anglo, "I never would have thought to decorate the walls of a dining room with gold, I always preferred murals and tapestries, clearly I was missing out."

"There you are Mandoria," Rowen said with relief, walking up to his husband and hugging him, "I was worried about you, you didn't come to bed with us when you were supposed to."

"It's ok Rowen, I'm perfectly fine," Mandoria reassured him, "turns out that British couches are so comfortable that it makes you fall asleep."

Just then, heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards the dining room and when everyone turned to the doorway they saw Edel come in, holding England by the scruff of his shirt like a cat and her kitten.

Rowen and Mandoria both snorted as they tried to hold in their laughter, boy did that bring back good memories.

"Well, then England, I guess history has repeated itself, hasn't it," the country said as respectfully as possible, "looks like Edel decided you should join us too, right?"

N:   "I was in the middle of sleeping," England grumbled but he smiled anyway, "and I guess he decided that I have to eat."

"You definitely need to," Anglo spoke, chuckling from seeing his son, "Edel is correct for bringing you here."

"And I should call Dad to see this," BE laughed, getting a worried look from England, "he wouldn't want to miss this for the world." Wales nodded in agreement, trying to keep in a snicker from seeing his father.

"Don't you dare call your Father," the Englishman said firmly, "he would talk about it forever."

"It's not as if we're not doing it anyway," Saxon spoke as he entered the room, supporting Royal as they walked in, seating her before continuing, "so I don't see the problem when someone joins in." There came another grumble from England, crossing his arms as he stared angrily at his father.

"Anyway," the entity said, handing over a letter to BE, "this just came in." The empire nodded, and observed the seal before breaking it, and reading its contents. His shoulders lowered as he continued to read, then it changed to one of confusion, then finally a small grin appeared on his face. Taking the paper, he walked over to the fireplace and hovered it just out of reach of the flames.

"As soon as I received the letter about your survival, Mandoria," he began, placing the letter on the table, "I immediately sent a letter to a good friend, the Kingdom of Portugal, asking if he had seen your sons. He wrote that he didn't see them; however, his tone seemed off, until at the bottom he wrote the word 'Fogo' meaning fire." He raised the paper to show the writing, the top part neat with ink, the bottom writing more messily, "he used ink which would only show itself in the presence of fire. Here he says that he did see them and they are alive, although they are not in his Kingdom. I guess since he was close proximity to Prussia he took some precautions."

M:   Mandoria was silent, his face seemed emotionless and he was just staring into space. Rowen was confused at Mandoria's behavior, he was just told that Mandara and Derogan were alive and he wouldn't even respond.

"Mandoria, didn't you hear him," he asked worriedly, "Mandara and Derogan are alive, why are you so silent?"

The country again didn't react, he walked over and stood in front of BE and simply stared for a moment, then pulled him into a large hug and started crying joyous tears.

"Thank you BE, thank you, thank you, thank you," he said, utter relief in his voice, "you have no idea how much this means to me, I thought they were dead, Prussia said he slaughtered them and I believed it, thank you so much."

N:   "No worries," BE wheezed as he was crushed in the hug, "but maybe let me breathe." Once Mandoria had let go, the empire cleared his throat and added, "I'm glad that we are able to help you."

"There's no point celebrating yet," chimed in Royal, resting her head in her hand. Her head still buzzing from the frequency weapon and her wings were partially bandaged from the training, "they have still not been found, and it's been a while since their supposed deaths."

"Royal? Seriously," Wales frowned at the other, arms crossed, "you didn't have to say that. What matters is that they are alive." She only shrugged in response and turned away, to which the small country sighed.

"Enough now," BE spoke, "while we are all here, let's all sit down so we may eat."

M:   "Ok," Mandoria agreed, drying his eyes, "that sounds like a good idea."

He went back to his seat and sat with Rowen and Johann, Edel sat England down in a chair next to Anglo and curled up next to him, purring as England pet his head.

"I'd say it's a good thing that Edel made you sit further away from us, England," Rowen said, "that way Mr. Ruiner of Tastebuds doesn't get any ideas, right buddy." he elbowed Johann playfully, referring to when he dumped the salt and spice into England's food when they were back home.

Mandoria snorted in the middle of drinking and started coughing, though his coughing eventually subsided into laughter, "I don't think I was around to see that, though I wish I was because it sounded hilarious."

N:   "It definitely was," Johann nodded, and he turned to Edel, "but it's fine, he wasn't hurt."

"I beg to differ," England muttered, "that was on a whole different level of saltiness and spiciness." The rest of the British only laughed at the story, Anglo trying his best to keep a straight face while he comforted his son. A group of servants entered the hall, carrying plates upon plates of food, placing them on the table, and bowing before they left. "Take as much food as you want," the country spoke once his family calmed down.

"I see that Johann upped his game while he was with you," Maria chuckled, bringing the topic back.

"I did but even if England was sitting next nearby," the Mandorian said, "I doubt there are hot enough spices in this Kingdom. Is there any in the food?"

"See," BE answered, "we do have spice, a lot actually, but we mainly trade them with Sir India and other Kingdoms. I've had some spices from India added to the dishes," to which all of the British looked up in horror, "and there are some spice-free."

Johann nodded and took some food from the non-spicy food since he never properly developed a tolerance to spices while at home.

M:   Mandoria and Rowen didn't mind, neither had spicy food in a long time so they were more than happy to have some, though they went light on it just in case their tolerance had been numbed down like Rowen's to coffee. Edel didn't get left out, some of the servants were nice enough to bring him some hunks of meat and fish, which he happily devoured.

It was relatively quiet, a few stories and memories were passed around to fill the silence but everyone mostly just enjoyed their food. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately for some people, Rowen decided to start reliving embarrassing memories from when the British were in their kingdom last time.

"-and I remember how England was being sat on by Edel and Johann, Mandara, and Derogan decided to crawl underneath and join him." He recounted, "I believe Anglo was telling about how naughty he was as a child and Edel decided to punish him for it. I wouldn't call getting sat on by a fluffy dragon punishment but you always made it seem like it was the end of the world, right England."

N:   "Because it bloody was," England grumbled as he ate, while Anglo warned him to watch his language, "It's fun and all, but eventually you appreciate your vision not completely blocked out with fur."

"Well, that's what you get for refusing to sleep," Saxon chuckled.

"If you ask my brother, being sat on is definitely a punishment," Royal spoke, "when we were younger, he was always the one who took forever to wake up, so our mother taught our cat to sit on his face if he slept after a certain time. Let's just say he gained a fear of cats, especially waking up and seeing the bottom end of one every morning."

M:   "That's just cats for you," Rowen chuckled, "I had a cat named Lyra once, she was definitely on the sassier side of the cat scale, her favorite pastime was also trying to suffocate you when you sleep, as well as hunting ankles, only Titan was able to keep her in check but otherwise she was a nightmare, she was lucky she was a good cuddler when she was in a good mood."

"Let's hope your brother doesn't come to visit," Mandoria said to Royal, "if Edel likes him he might have to relive that fear again but on an even bigger scale."

N:   "I would pay a good amount of money to see it anyway," Royal smiled, "and I'm sure he will have a wonderful time with Edel here." However, she started to feel dizzy again so she placed her cutlery down and held her head; the constant clattering of knives and forks wasn't helping her head. "I might go and have some fresh air," she said as she unsteadily stood up, Anglo nodding with understanding, and she made her way out.

"I would like to ask," Heinrich piped up after the winged country left, "what happened earlier today?  Alcis suddenly started to whine and had his ears down and covered."

"That would be because of British Empire," Anglo answered, glancing at the empire as he didn't make eye contact, "he found a way to incapacitate winged folk in the case that Prussia will come, but he hasn't thought of a way to protect the people he doesn't want to hurt, did you?"

BE mumbled a bit before answering, "It's not as easy as putting on armor," he defended, but he fell silent and increasingly uncomfortable.

M:   "It was a good idea, BE," Mandoria reassured him, "it's still in its testing phase so there's bound to be mishaps, all you can do is adapt and overcome those mishaps. I admit that despite what happened I think the frequency is a solid weapon, it just needs some more tweaking."

"Is there a way to muffle the frequency," Rowen asked, "back home if we were at war and firing cannons we would wear these special helmets that had things that covered your ears to muffle the explosion from the cannons and protect your ears, maybe that could solve our problem."

"Except that the frequency isn't just noise," Mandoria explained, "it's vibrations that affect your wings and body, winged countries are built differently than wingless and we can sense things better than them. For example, we can detect the magnetic fields of the north and south poles so we know where we are flying without looking at a map, the frequency just scrambles everything and puts my senses into overdrive, I suppose it could be comparable to a cannon shockwave but a hundred times worse. So we could potentially protect our hearing but we will still feel the vibrations."

N:   "And you cannot exactly 'muffle' a frequency," BE continued the topic, "if we choose a frequency that is less harmful to us, it's no longer a weapon. That particular frequency is what we need for it to work." He began to think of a way, then something clicked in his mind, "but if we are able to change the natural frequency of a person so there is less resonance, then there would be a smaller effect on the subject, so-"

"You know what," Saxon interrupted, "maybe try to cut down on the scientific talk, and maybe start talking in English for the rest of us. You can switch back to normal with Wilfred."

"There might be a way," he summarised simply, "it may be difficult to achieve, but there is a chance."

M:   "Well, as long as there is a chance we should take it," Mandoria declared, "and if you need help with anything I will be happy to assist you."

"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Rowen said, putting a hand on his husband's shoulder, "maybe you should refrain from hurting yourself until you're a little more healed, ok."

Mandoria nodded in agreement, that was actually a better idea than offering himself up as a guinea pig. He decided to switch the topic to something he was curious about, "So how has Celtica been, Saxon said she was here when we were on the boat but I haven't seen her yet."

N:   "Because Saxon has not been here for a long while," Anglo answered, "but I guess a couple of months is the new normal now. While he was gone, Celtica and I would take turns taking care of England while the other worked in Westminster. Usually, both of us would go, representing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland in Parliament-"

"Since fathers argued when the people are trying to discuss," Wales commented, getting a grumble from England.

"But it's not as if the people aren't arguing anyway," BE pointed out.

"Anyway," the winged country resumed, "the House cannot meet or form laws without us in their presence, but we were able to make a compromise. I go for one week and Celtica goes for the next, and we alternate. She went two days ago and isn't due to come back in five days."

"That being said, I have already sent a letter to her about your arrival so she would know you are here when she arrives," BE said.

M:   Mandoria nodded, "ok I was just wondering is all. Also now that I think about it, she still owes you a rematch Rowen, from when you two sparred with spears."

Rowen smiled ruefully at that memory, "That was fun, we were definitely very evenly matched back then, it's been so long though that I doubt I would put up much of a challenge anymore, I hardly know how to hold a sword anymore. Wald was nice enough to show me a few things while we were stopping to rest but I don't think I could compete any longer."

"Then just get England to teach you," Mandoria smirked, "as I recall Saxon saying that he and Scotland like to spar with each other, or at least when they are drunk."

N:   "I beg your pardon," Anglo said, although slightly too loud while England choked on his drink. The country turned to the entity, "Would you like to tell me why I was not informed of this?"

"We just kept it between us three," Saxon replied and grinned a little, "it was our little secret since we knew how Celtica would react if she were to know. That is, badly." Anglo shook his head with disappointment so the entity added, "But the best thing out of it was England speaking Old German, and my lord was it beautiful."

"Faeder," England snapped, "you don't go around and tell people that," but the father only laughed as he remembered.

"I think Grandma was right about the alcohol," Wales spoke, "both you and Dad are crazy around it."

"I agree," Saxon nodded, "his form was terrible and his footwork was hideous."

"I knew that party was going to be interesting," BE said quietly, smiling a little as he watched his father get annoyed with the entity.