N:   "Òrail, don't go," Scotland called out, standing up when he saw her go, and he walked towards her, "please, don't mind Saxon here, he doesn't know when to be quiet, along with his son," which got a grumble from Saxon.

The Scot walked up to her, reaching for her shoulder so she wouldn't go further, and slowly turned her around, "How could you base your whole view of us on one man? Yes, you may hurt us, but you barely scraped the surface of who we are." His teal eyes looked into hers, "did I not give you food? I don't treat my enemies kindly, but I don't see you as one. And you are yet to see my Ma, she's in London right now and I'm sure that she would love to see you again. She's not due to come for four days, but in that time I hope your impression of us would change."

"And if you go, we will never see you again, as well as Mandoria," Anglo added, "and to bring us back to reality, you are in no condition to go back and live on the bare minimum. At least stay until you are fully healed."

"Please," Scotland begged, "just don't go."

M:   Esha looked down at Scotland, she being slightly taller than him, her eye fading between colors as she didn't know what to feel or do.

"Wouldn't you like to officially meet Mandoria too," Rowen added, trying to help convince her to stay, "he was hurt yesterday but will wake up, surely it would be nice to at least talk to another Eternal after so long, right."

"He's not-," she started, but hesitated for a second before continuing, "he was born at our destruction, I doubt he would know anything about us." 

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Rowen insisted. A moment of silence fell as Esha thought about everything, still having conflicting emotions about what to do.

"Fine, I'll stay, for now," she relented, "but don't expect me to do things like you do, I'm too old to change to civil after millennials in the wilds.

N:   "That's fine," Anglo replied, "just tell us when you are uncomfortable, but," he pointed at her bed, "you need to rest now."

The winged country then turned to Saxon and frowned, "And as for you, do something productive. Continue in whatever search you were doing for Mandoria."

"Fine," Saxon huffed, glancing back at Esha before leaving, and while he did, BE passed by him, confused to see him there. Once he had left, the empire wasn't sure about what happened, but he ignored it for the time being as he walked over to Rowen, a prototype leg in his hand.

"Try this out," he said, handing over the prosthetic for the Mandorian to try, "I just need to finalize the form before I add anything on." The leg was a simple design, but there was a gap between just underneath the ankle and the heel, and the material used allowed extra bounciness in one's step, along with the bottom of the foot made to avoid any sliding when worn without a shoe. Along with a strap that connects with the rest of the leg, so Rowen could remove the leg with a locking mechanism, the Brit tried to make it as natural feeling as possible.

M:   Rowen took the leg and inspected it, he was impressed with the new joint design and satisfied that it was still simple enough to pass as a real leg when concealed by clothing. He pulled up a chair and sat down to strap it on, he was quite happy with the light padding on the inside to make it more comfortable.

"Not bad, it's quite comfortable," he said, "I'm a little worried about the springiness, I've never really worn something that bounced back but there's a first time for everything, right."

He took BE's hand and slowly stood up, putting his weight on the leg to see how it would support it. It held fine so he took some experimental steps, though he didn't anticipate the spring, and fell backward into the country's arms, "yeah, this might take a little getting used to, but other than that I think it will do nicely."

Just then, a surprised yelp came from Anglo, the two turned in that direction and saw that Esha had decided that instead of sleeping on the bed she would hang upside down from a curtain rack from her tail, and unfortunately, the rack was not made to support the weight of a person so she broke it and fell flat on her nape.

"Ow," she grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck as Scotland helped her up, "the whelp must not be injured often if your banisters are not made to hold us up, how else are we supposed to sleep?"

N:   "In a bed," Scotland answered, although his tone indicated as if it's obvious, "he prefers to sleep on his front so he doesn't get pins and needles from sleeping on his wings. We can find something else for you."

"Wait, you sleep upside down," Anglo asked in confusion, "how does your head work, from the blood rushing all the way to your head?"

M:   "Because I'm a winged creature," Esha said, "our hearts are larger to pump enough blood at a fast rate so we can fly at high altitudes without passing out, it also means that when we hang upside down it is able to pump blood away from our brains without stressing. Typically those of us with leather wings prefer to sleep like that but feather wings can also hang upside down if they wanted, of course, it's a bit more difficult for those without tails but still possible."

"Wait, have you ever slept on a bed before then," Rowen asked from his seat, "if you prefer to sleep upside down then would sleeping in a bed be uncomfortable?"

"I don't really know," Esha admitted, "a bed is hard to find in the wilderness so I haven't been on an actual one in hundreds of thousands of years, I can't remember if I slept on one before the extinction or not though. I can make do for the time being I guess."

N:   Scotland nodded and led Esha back to her bed, "I'm sure you know," he said, "but don't sleep on your wings, you'll regret it."

"Definitely," Anglo grumbled, and he changed the subject, "Anyways, Scotland, why did you come here? Aren't you busy back north?"

"I got the news that the Mandorians came," he replied, "and I was interested in the dragon named Edel, and how he treats England, so I can mention it forever." He quickly scanned the room to see all the injured people and sighed, "I was also thinking to invite you to my home, but clearly this is not the right time."

M:   "It might be good we don't go to your home," Rowen chuckled, "I noticed that whenever we are around the British things tend to go haywire, I'm not blaming you guys, it's probably just coincidence."

Just then, Edel finally decided to come to check on everyone, his new friend chose to go home so he wanted to make sure everyone was ok. The smell of blood was overwhelming from everyones' wounds but what worried him most was that he smelled England's in the mix. The dragon padded over to his child and whimpered at the sight of his cheek.

"Wow, I thought dragons were extinct," Esha said surprised, "or at least the flying ones, there are a few water and cavern dragons left since they were able to stay hidden, I didn't know a winged one survived."

She reached out so Edel could sniff her, except when he did he could smell England's blood on her so growled threateningly and defensively shielded the country from her.

"Understandable," she sighed, "there was a misunderstanding and I struck him, but know it has been settled for the most part and will not happen again, ok."

Edel growled again but seemed to trust Esha, backing off a little but still staying in between her and England, laying his head beside him while he slept.

N:   Scotland just stared at the dragon, not actually believing that what he was seeing is real, and he walked over to his seat between England and Wales. "So you're the dragon that adopted my husband," the Scot asked, "as well as the one who sat on my Ma?"

M:   Rowen snorted when he heard that, "Yeah, I almost forgot about that, he also sat on Anglo and Saxon, and don't get me started on what happened when Saxon 'kidnapped' England when the two were taking a nap together."

Edel huffed when that was mentioned, clearly, he didn't appreciate the reminder, instead, he mosied over to Scotland to inspect him, sniffing and rubbing against him to gather his scent.

"He's probably like, 'So you are married to my baby, I must determine if you are worthy of him'," Rowen joked, stifling a laugh.

N:   Scotland rolled his eyes at the suggestion and said, "It should be if he's worthy of me."

"Nope, it's definitely the other way round," Anglo chuckled, "remember when we checked to see if you were good for England?"

"See, you say 'we'," the Scot responded, "but it's more of Saxon testing me to see if I was good, and Ma was not going easy with England, one of them was about being strict on alcohol, which he definitely lied that he was."

The country then turned to Edel and played along with Rowen's joke, "So, am I good enough for your son?"

M:   Edel purred in seeming approval and gave Scotland a nice slobbery kiss, nearly enveloping the country's face with his tongue, then went back to his spot and lay down to sleep.

"Well, that's a first," Esha said, "I don't think I've ever seen an animalistic winged dragon before, or at least one who wasn't sentient."

"Edel is very intelligent, I'll have you know," Rowen defended, "he simply has a demeanor of either a puppy dog or a mother hen, that's all."

Rowen then told the story of how Edel came to life all those years ago, how he was originally a statue in a worship temple and was brought to life as part of a revenge scheme.

N:   Scotland shook his head, "Well that guy is downright crazy."

"I think that was the general consensus," Anglo commented, "and your day seemed much calmer than mine ..." but the country trailed off before he could continue, remembering what could have happened to him. "Anyway," he continued after a pause, "it's nice for Edel to be part of the family now, ain't that right Edel?"

M:   Edel grumbled in his throat and flicked his tail in agreement. The rest of the day was uneventful, most everyone injured slept and those who weren't would come in every now and then to check in on everyone. As it got darker, Rowen decided that he and Johann should sleep in their own bed this time, so after almost an hour of convincing he got his son to leave Mandoria's side and they headed into their room.

Later on in the night, Esha was up and had wandered outside, a piece of paper in her hand.

"I hope they weren't found," she said, reading the names on the paper, "and for the love of Aklous, don't come find me, they can't know, it would surely kill us."

With that, Esha took the paper and blew flames on it, reducing it to a glittering cloud of smoke that flew away in an unnatural way, seeming to snake through the air in a specific direction, and when the smoke was no longer in sight, the elder country walked back into the castle to go back to sleep.

N:   Scotland also decided to go to his own room, but Anglo refused to go, wanting to be beside his son when he woke up. Even when the Scot told the Englishman about the drink Esha gave the both of them, the winged country persisted, so he gave in. He bid everyone goodnight before he left, only coming back to check on Wales from time to time.

In the morning, Anglo woke up from his sleep from England moving, since he had his head on his bed and went over to check on him. The country moved around, stirring out of his sleep when he yawned, but his eyes snapped open when he realized that his mouth didn't hurt like crazy.

The father watched as the son slowly unwrapped his bandages, and when he did it revealed three long scars where the scratches were, and he could feel with his tongue the scar on the inside of his mouth. "Woah," England muttered as he reached for his cheek, touching the scars, "that was really quick."

Anglo immediately tackled him into a hug, acting as if his son just had a near-death experience, which he didn't but it felt like it to him. "Fa, I'm fine," England reassured him, "don't worry, ok?" He asked for a handheld mirror, and when it arrived, looked at his reflection and hummed, "Not bad."

M:   Esha, who was half hanging upside down off the bed, woke up when the English were talking, smiling that her concoction worked. She slowly righted herself in bed and stretched out her good wing.

"Well, I'm glad to see it worked," she said, stifling a yawn, "I have an herb past in my bag that can help with the scars. It works to prevent infections and accelerate healing at a normal pace, it's what I used on the whelp's shoulder when I first saved him, but if you have a fresh scar it can diminish it so it's almost unnoticeable. I couldn't use it on mine since it was quite old by the time I discovered the recipe, but if you use it now those scars will be gone by next week."

N:   "I would very much like that, thank you," England thanked, placing the mirror back on the table. He looked over to Wales and smiled when he saw that he was sleeping peacefully, "but the only thing I'm happy about is that Wales here is getting better."

Anglo looked between them and volunteered, "If you are hungry now, I can have breakfast brought here."

M:   Esha instinctively perked up at the mention of food, "Yes please, I'm starving. I must say it was a weird feeling going to sleep last night with a full stomach, most days I'm lucky to catch a few birds and fish, which don't typically have a lot of meat on them."

She leaned over to a chair she left her things on to grab her bag while still talking, "Don't get me wrong, it's not that hard to live in the wild around here, the deer and boar populations are usually quite decent, and if I'm lucky I can find the occasional bear, though I only hunt those before winter so I have enough food to last me."

Eventually, she found her jar and opened it up, motioning for England to come closer so she could rub it on his cheek, "so we just need to rub a little bit on twice a day, we can't do it on the inside of your mouth because this mixture is quite poisonous if ingested, learned that the hard way, but I can create an alternative that is relatively safer if you accidentally swallow it. I might have to gather more yellow root though, I think I'm almost out."

N:   England instinctively backed away when he heard it was poisonous, but relaxed after when she further explained. Leaning forward, England felt as Esha applied the paste, although he did flinch slightly when she first made contact.

"Wales could help you with that," Anglo spoke, "he knows where things are in the woods, although I would try to find some in our own supplies so you don't have to go back there."

The country then stood up and walked out, and as he did BE came in, clearly seeing that he hasn't slept. "Esha, I need to ask you something," he said, and when he approached her, he forgot what he was going to ask and it took him a moment for him to remember.

"Oh yes, I remember," he said, "so, since your old and have wings, do you know any wing laws that could potentially undermine the Wing King, and get around the whole allegiance thing."

M:   Esha turned to BE confused, wondering why he, a wingless country, would want to know about the King Wing and wing culture. After he explained she hummed and put a hand to her chin as she thought about it.

"Geeze, that was all so long ago," she remarked, "I got to be honest, I don't really remember much details about our society, not to mention any of the old laws are basically void at this point after millions of years."

She bit down on her lip, ransacking her brain for even a fleeting glimpse of a memory that could be useful.

"Well, it's not necessarily something that will benefit us but is without a doubt something to watch out for," she started, "the King Wing has the ability to control other winged Eternals, by vibrating his wings at the right frequency he can dominate their minds and force them to his will. No one knows what the frequency is, only the King Wing does, but it means that if push comes to shove King Wing Prussia can take control of your winged family and force them to fight against you."

N:   BE's face was in shock, not being able to accept the idea that his family will be controlled by Prussia. "Well that's better information than having none, he said, scratching his chin as he thought about it, "if it's just frequency then we could figure it out, it's science after all. Plus the shield for the frequency cannon could be used too."

"Are you sure you can do that," England asked BR, "there must be an infinite number of frequencies?"

"I don't care," the empire crossed his arms, "I'll find one no matter what, if it means that I don't sleep fine, but I'll make sure Grandpa, Wales, and Royal do not fall under the control of that bastard." The empire sat down in a chair and placed his hands on his head, "I don't even know if that works if there is an element of magic."

M:   "Not that I know of," Esha shrugged, "but, considering so many centuries have passed, I doubt he knows about it, and even if he does I doubt he knows the correct frequency, I think we are relatively safe."

"Safe from what," a voice said, Rowen and Johann soon appeared from the door. Esha explained what they were talking about and he hummed with interest, "Well, as far as I know, Prussia doesn't know about it, I know for a fact that Mandoria didn't so there is no possible way Prussia does, but as I always say, prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

N:   "I'm still going to find it," BE said, "and no one is stopping me."

"I think it's a good thing that no one knows," Johann commented, standing beside his father, "once it's found out, Prussia would use it and control them."

"Well, I'll make sure I find it first," the empire said, "and I could use it to counter anything that he does."

"Are you sure you can do that," England spoke, concerned for his son, "you look like you haven't slept the entire night. If no one is going to stop you, your own tiredness definitely would. What were you doing?"

BE didn't answer and instead rushed out of the room, and after a couple of minutes came back with an improved prosthetic leg. "I had to finish this off," he explained and he looked over to Rowen, "I stayed up because I don't like leaving things off half-done. I tweaked it a bit, allowing the toes to bend when walking, but they would snap back when you're not, and I made it a bit less bouncy so you don't go off jumping like a kangaroo."

He handed over the leg to Rowen and continued, "Grandfather told me that there was a floral pattern on your original leg, so I had the court painter add some. The great thing about the leg too is that both models can be attached to the same brace, so you don't have to change it every time."

M:   Rowen hummed as he took the leg, pressing the toes against his palm to see how they bend.

"This is incredible," he declared, "I don't think I've ever had a leg so detailed before, my old one didn't even have toes, it was just a foot-shaped block."

He eagerly sat down and removed the first leg, he had gotten a little used to it but still used his crutch for balance. He attached the new leg and with the help of Johann walked a few steps to test it. It felt weird with the toe mobility, he was so used to walking on a solid block foot that it was really hard to walk on it like a normal leg.

"I'm not sure if I like how the toes move," he admitted, "I'm so used to a solid foot that it feels really weird for them to move. I do like the pattern though, that was a nice touch."

N:   "Noted," BE nodded, "I can change it up if you want, I'll make a new one."

"Now that's enough," England spoke, getting up out of bed and walking over to his son, "you need to get some rest, a decent sleep is what you need and after that, you can go back to your work."

"Father," BE said, crossing his arms, "I still have work to do now," and when England suggested that he would help, he shook his head, "You forget that I'm in charge of an empire as well as a Kingdom, I cannot simply rest. Wilfred would be but he's busy and Royal is out of action." He pulled out a roll of paper and opened it, reading out what he has to do for the day, trying to put his father off.

"Scotland could help too," Anglo suggested, getting a surprised look from the both of them, "I know it's not the best idea, but BE, you rule over the English, Scottish, and Welsh, so your fathers can take care of them while you rest. They know their own people the best, and England has some experience with managing empires, such as the Thirteen Colonies."

"If that would even last," he mumbled to himself, but he quickly reiterated, "we can do that for you, just sleep."

"Sure," BE said skeptically and he turned to Anglo, "just wake me up before fathers start a war." When the winged country agreed, the empire nodded and left.

M:   "This reminds me of when Mandoria was injured and we pitched in to help him with his duties," Rowen said, "that was quite an interesting day, for some better than others."

"How so," Esha asked.

Rowen hesitated, he wasn't sure he should bring up what happened to Saxon and Anglo, especially with Anglo in the room. Luckily, Edel woke up then and activated parent mode when he saw England was awake, sniffing him all over to make sure he was ok and that his injury was healing, which he was surprised was completely healed.

N:   "Parent two is awake," England laughed, "I'm fine, Esha gave me something and now I'm way better." He patted the dragon on the head, continuing to say that he was fine.

"Yeah let's not talk about that," Anglo muttered quietly, but he turned around when he heard movement behind him, and he saw Wales's eyes just open.

"Why is it so bright," the Welsh said, blinking a couple of times as he tried to get up, so Anglo came to assist him.

"It's the morning," the elder country chuckled, "and breakfast is coming here soon." Wales nodded and tried to open up his wing, but it was restrained by the bandages, so he unwrapped them and took a good look at his wing, fully healed. He checked his shoulder too and it was the same result, and he hummed in approval.

M:   Esha also smiled that Wales was all better, she too unwrapped her face and wing to see how they were doing, she couldn't sleep last night so she made the healing mixture for herself. She spread out her wing and flexed her wing claws, satisfied that the membrane and muscles were all healed.

She took the mirror and looked at her face, and immediately deflating at what she saw, her old scar was still there, but now there was a brighter, smaller scar lining the inside of it. Slowly putting the mirror down, Esha reached for her mask and put it on once again, wrapping herself in her wings to comfort herself.

N:   When Anglo saw this, he checked to see if Wales was fine on his own before walking up to her own bed. He sat down at the foot of it and said, "I know you may not accept it, but I'm really sorry for what Saxon did. Even if I'm way younger than you are, if you need anyone to talk to, I am here."

As soon as he finished speaking, servants came into the room and began giving everyone breakfast.

M:   "It's not him," she muttered, "not only him at least, I've always been self-conscious about it, for Eternals scars are considered trophies, it shows that you have won a battle, but there is one major exception. A scar on the face is considered the biggest humiliation someone could have as it taints your symbol, for us death is better than a scarred face."

She side glanced at England, "That's why I struck his face, so he would endure the shame and humiliation I have had to bear for centuries. And that is now why I want to help him get rid of the scars, it's funny how a few hours can change you."

N:   Anglo hummed and didn't say anything, allowing the servant to hand Esha her breakfast. A couple of beds away, a hybrid opened her eyes, both her eyes back to normal, and she tried to remember what happened. She tried to sit up but immediately cried out in pain as her stomach wound worsened, and a doctor came to her to ease her down. "Do not get up," the doctor ordered, "it would only reopen your wound."

"As if my insides were not exposed already," Royal grumbled, but swore under her breath when she moved again, so she gave up, "I hate being stuck in bed."

"Looks like the both of us are," Wales spoke, causing the other to turn with surprise to him, wondering how he was able to heal so quickly, "welcome back to the world of the living."

Royal raised a brow and replied, "Thanks?" She scanned the room, or what she could see from her perspective, and saw a bit of a large dark blue wing, and knew who it belonged to, and frowned, remembering what she said to Wales.

M:   Esha heard Royal talking and set her breakfast down to grab her bag again, taking out another jar that had crushed herbs in it.

"I couldn't sleep last night so I whipped up another batch of the healing mix," she explained, "there is enough left for two more people."

She asked for a glass of water and when it was provided she poured some of the mixture into it, then after she sprinkled the sparkle in it she handed it to Anglo to give to Royal.

"What is that powder you sprinkle on it," Rowen asked, "it looks like crystal dust."

"That is on a need-to-know basis," Esha said, "All I will say is that it's very hard to get so I try to use it sparingly."

N:   When Anglo came over to Royal with the drink, she initially refused, "I'm not getting anything from her."

"It's good for you," Anglo told her, "and it works too. It worked on Wales and England."

"Why would she help Wales," the hybrid asked, glancing over to Esha, "and why on earth would England need it?"

Anglo hesitated when she asked the second question, but instead, he grabbed a chair and sat down, "now listen to me, young lady," he spoke, "you are going to drink this. It doesn't matter what she did before, now she wants to help you, so take it."

Royal huffed in indignation but gave in, allowing Anglo to help her up, and after some struggling was able to grab hold of the cup and drink the concoction.

M:   "I'm sorry for our rocky start," Esha apologized, "I was angry at the time and I'm not always mindful of my words when I'm angry, and I admit that I attacked England because of an old grudge with his Christians, but it was sorted out after his father humiliated me, so we're on ... peaceful terms."

N:   Royal looked to Anglo for an explanation, and he shook his head, "Not me, the other father," to which she uttered a small 'oh'. Not knowing what to do, she just laid back in bed, and asked, "So, the Jacobites have been dealt with?" to which Johann slightly shrank at the mention of the rebels.

"As far as we know," Anglo said, "the ones that attacked you were all dealt with; however, we haven't found any more, as well as their leader."

 "Thank bloody leader," the other grumbled, "I'll throw him straight into the Tower the moment I catch him."

"But for now you need to heal," a voice said, and entered Scotland as he made over to Wales and Royal, "it's nice to see you better," he ruffed the Welsh's hair, getting an annoyed whine from him, "and that your awake soldier."

"You know what Scotty," Royal smiled, "I preferred being up north with you and Celtica, much fewer enemies to deal with."

"Agreed," the Scot nodded, and he turned to England, "I passed by Albion and he said that I was needed."

"Yup," Anglo answered instead, "you and my son are going to work together for a day, without arguing." Scotland just blinked when he heard, not sure if what he heard was correct.

"Well," the Scot said after he recovered from his shock, "the first thing I'll do is put back King James II's portrait with the rest of the kings," and marched out of the room.

"Don't you dare," England called out, running after him, "we put him away for good reason."

"Well today is going to be fun," Wales lightly chuckled, but at the same time worried.

M:   Esha looked confused at what happened but decided it was none of her business, instead she tried to stand up to see how her back was. Unfortunately, the healing mixture has a harder time healing bullet wounds for her so she barely lifted her weight off the bed before she flinched in pain.

"What's wrong," Rowen absent-mindedly asked, "is something hurting?"

"Yeah," she grunted, sitting back down, "the mixture doesn't heal bullet wounds as fast for me, I don't know why, can you check my back, see how things are."

He nodded and carefully lifted her deerskin shirt, she flinched at this but didn't say anything. Nor did Rowen, he was silent with shock at what he saw, "are these whiplashes?"

Esha hesitated for a moment before she spoke, "y-yes, they are, th-they're from that night, when I was captured by the Christians. They kept talking about how I was a demon because of my leather wings and that evil needed to be punished. They crucified me with stakes through my hands and whipped my back, among other things. Celtica found me two days later when they left me for dead, and I would have been if it weren't for her."

N:   The Brits were horrified by what happened, and Wales looked up to Anglo, "Why didn't that happen to me? Would that happen to me?"

"I doubt it," he replied, "the Welsh have always represented themselves with the Red Dragon, the same way with the English it's a White Dragon, so when you were born, you represented the Welsh perfectly with your red draconic features. I doubt they are going to do anything to you."

The winged country then turned to Esha, "It's always the people who are ignorant that are the most dangerous, and a scared person shouldn't be anywhere near a weapon. When Celtica comes here, I would like to personally thank her for taking care of you."

Johann meanwhile walked over to the bed next to Mandoria, swung his legs on it and crossed them over, remaining quiet while they spoke until he finally said, "Could we not talk about torturing?"