M:   The two eternals manifested weapons when the Jacobites started coming, Askad summoned a spear and Oderus chose a crossbow, but before they could enter the fight they heard the masked man run away.

"YOU," Askad roared, "GET BACK HERE, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

The Naga slithered after the retreating entity before Oderus could stop him, so he signaled to Esha that the masked country was there and for her to rally the others for reinforcements. Although he wanted to go after Askad, the two humans needed him more at this point, so he begrudgingly stayed put and helped fight off the Jacobites.

N:   Josef continued to fight the first Jacobite, having sustained a shot to the leg in the process, however, he was able to get the upper hand and knocked the musket out of the Jacobite's hand.

"Auf Wiedersehen," he growled as he lobbed off the Jacobite's hand and stabbed him in the stomach. Satisfied that the other was close to death, he pushed him into a pool of venom nearby, letting the Jacobite slowly die.

Nearby, Julian was fighting unarmed with an armed Jacobite and was struggling. Fighting was never his strong suit, but he tried his best anyway, landing hits on the enemy's face and stomach. Eventually, he was knocked down, and was about to be killed when the Jacobite spun around to block Josef's incoming attack.

It took only a minute for the Jacobite to be defeated, but this time the young man got a slice across his forearm.

"Why are you still here," he asked Julian as the other rushed to his side, "go and keep yourself safe."

"Em ȧr ukha (don't be stupid). I can look after myself; it's you I'm worried about."

 "I'm fine," Josef snapped as he got to his feet, and as he did he saw a Jacobite run and try to attack Julian, so he pushed his friend away, but in turn was shoved into the venom. Everything stung, especially his foot and arm, and it hurt when he tried to move.

Eventually, he got up, his eyes shut as he tried to make sure no venom got into them. Julian carefully helped him out and they sat in a secluded place so he can clean his wounds.

"Joey, you can open your eyes now," Julian spoke softly as he glanced at the sunglasses floating in the venom, "your out now."

Josef nodded and opened his eyes, his silver irises starkly contrasting with his black sclerae, and his gaze rapidly flicked between the people around him, weary that his glasses weren't on him.

M:   Oderus was defending the two from a few other Jacobites, he was a good shot with the crossbow and fell the enemy with one shot, unfortunately, the last Jacobite managed to shoot the eternal in the chest before he was taken out.

Odrus fell to his knees, gasping for air as the musket ball punctured his lung, through great willpower however, he closed his eyes and focused his energy on the wound, slowly closing as it healed. The country vomited soon after, healing charms were very draining, especially when used on oneself, so his body reacted violently before quickly recovering.

He wiped his mouth and turned to where he heard the two "humans", his eyes squinting as he tried to find their spirits.

 "Can you two please lower your spirit shields," he asked, "I can't see you when they're up, and it's not like the other Short-Lives are going to be using any magic." He stood and took a step towards them, "did either of you get hit by the venom, if it gets into your wounds it will kill you within an hour, an hour and fifteen if you're lucky."

N:   "Yeah I got the venom on me," Josef groaned as he sat up against a crate, "and dying is the least of my concerns but what are these spirit shields you keep on talking about?"

"Well, it's um," Julian stuttered, "it's quite straightforward. You would shield your spirit from being seen by people like Oderus."

The other blinked before answering, "but Prometheus never said anything about spirit shields and I can't do whatever you just said, so how come Oderus can't see my- oh." It suddenly clicked in his mind about his spirit, and his face turned from shock to annoyance. "Why, Julian, have you not told me for the last decade or so that I do not have a spirit?"

"You got your answer now," Julian whispered to the Eternal before trying to poorly give an excuse for neglecting to tell the other about the spirit situation.

 ———

As he ran down the tunnel, the masked man ordered every Jacobite that came across him to slow down the incoming Eternal.

M:   Oderus was confused but decided that it was not important right now, instead, with directions from Josef, he located his wound and used an extraction spell to remove the venom from his system, draining himself further and turning slightly pale.

"I'm afraid that's all I can do for you at the moment," he breathed heavily, "I'm not an elder so it's extremely draining for me to cast healing charms, though if we get you to the healing chamber we can properly treat you."

"Odrus!" someone shouted, Esha coming soon after with a bunch of British soldiers in tow, as well as Royal, "there you are, where is he, where is that bitch!"

Odrus pointed down the tunnel, "he ran that way, Askad went after him, that tunnel's a dead end, he's trapped but that makes him even more dangerous."

Esha nodded and commanded most of the soldiers to spread out and locate every Jacobite they could, though a few stayed with the countryhumans.  "Come on Royal, let's find our scaly idiot before he gets himself killed," she said.

-----

Askad was blinded by vengeance and rage, he wouldn't let anyone stop him, slaughtering anyone who dared cross his path in the quickest and bloodiest way possible, though mostly just bit the Jacobites' throats and injecting his venom, leaving them to die later.

He knew where this tunnel led, it led to the chief's private quarters, he guessed that the leader had been using it as his own living space, it disgusted him. Using every ounce of energy he could, he sprang forward and tried to tackle Chrysalis, unfortunately, he was only able to grab his cloak and rip it off his shoulders.

N:   "You bloody snake," Chrysalis spat, "do you know how difficult it was to get that cloak?" With that, he sprang forward, found his room, and locked the door behind him. "Chrissy, you really got yourself into a pickle now, didn't ya," he whispered to himself as he glanced at the things around him, but soon the problem faded away as he began to chuckle to himself. He meandered towards a polearm, his laughter growing at every step as he reached for the weapon and looked down at it.

"Skady, I know you're out there," he yelled, smiling from cheek to cheek, still masked, "why don't you be a good boy and calm down? We know what happens when you don't listen." With the end of the blade, he let it scratch against the stone floor as he reached the door, speaking almost melodically, "I've been so low on that beautiful venom of yours, may you be a nice lad and give me some?"

———

"Whose damn idea was it to come here anyway," Royal wondered as she unsheathed her sword, but otherwise followed Esha down the tunnels.

M:   "Prometheus," Esha grumbled, "he wanted to use the caved to heal Mandoria's wings, and apparently his dumb-ass didn't think there could still be Jacobites here. If we get out of this alive, I'm going to kill him."

The women rushed for Askad but were faced with all the humans he left behind, despite being poisoned they were still determined to protect their leader, so they faced off against the countries and prevented them from helping Askad.

-----

"Oh, I'll give it to you alright," Askad hissed, literally, "I'll give you so much of it your body will poison the ground once they bury whatever I leave of you! Are you fucking happy with yourself, you have driven our species to near extinction, you've destroyed any chance of the Eternals to recover from the fall of the empire! ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY NOW!!!!"

Askad was slamming himself against the wooden door, splintering it as the old wood had trouble holding and was close to caving in.

"Get the fuck out here you coward, I will avenge my people," he roared, almost sounding demonic from his fury, "face my wrath like an Eternal, you recreant, quit hiding in there like a Short-Life!"

N:   "But see, the Short-Lives are pretty smart," Chrysalis commented, "after all, they were the ones who brought your 'great' empire down in the first place. Got to love those humans." He laughed as he added, "'Face my wrath like an Eternal'. No thanks, I would rather not have my species die out!"

The insurgent found a vat full of oil and dragged it over to the nearly broken door, and with the polearm poked a hole into it, letting the oil ooze out and form a pool. "Do you know what, Skady?" the insurgent cooed, taunting the Eternal, "I think you've been a bad little snake and need to be punished. Come into my office and we will talk through your anger issues, alright?" With one hand he grabbed for a stick, letting one end light on fire from the fireplace opposite the door. Now with a torch in one hand, he waited for the Eternal to storm through.

———

 Royal assisted Esha as they slowly made their way toward Askad. As they fought, one of the Jacobites was able to get a grab on the hybrid, and although she was able to shove him off, he used his sword to slice off most of the primary feathers on her right wing.

"No you didn't," she hissed, temporarily switching to Wren, "now you'll getting it." To get her revenge, she sliced the man's right arm off, and when he tried to grab her, she sliced off the other.

Once Royal was back in control, she only blinked in confusion at the sight of the Jacobite before folding up her wing and continuing.

M:   Askad stopped momentarily when Chrysalis said that, raising a brow in suspicion, he flicked out his tongue to have a sniff and see if he could pick up the insurgent's heat signature. He smelled the smoke from the fire and could detect the intense heat in Chrysalis's hand, a torch, but why would he have that?

"You know, sometimes it pays to be a bad little snake," he growled, "I can detect your heat dumbass, whatever you're planning on doing with that torch, I'm not falling for it."

As he continued to smell, he thought he picked up a familiar scent, it caused him to freeze in pure shock, was that ... no, it couldn't be ... could it?

"Who else do you have in there," he shouted, slight fear in his voice now, "answer me you demon, I can smell them, who do you have in there?!"

N:   "Oh, nothing," Chrysalis smirked as he glanced over to the corner of the room, "besides, if you want to know, you can just come in?"

M:   Askad growled, he knew that Chrysalis was trying to trick him, but the more he smelled that scent the more panicked he became, and made it harder to think rationally.

Thankfully, Esha and Royal made it to him and he explained the situation. Esha flicked her tongue out to figure out where Chrysalis was, then took aim with her bow and shot through the door, aiming for the shoulder connected to the torch.

N:   The insurgent yelped in pain as the arrow struck his shoulder, causing him to drop his torch. The torch rolled across the room and made contact with the oil, setting it alight. "Oh no," Chrysalis called out, watching the flames climb, "looks like you guys messed up." His mind began to race, looking around the room until his eyes went back to the same corner, and a smile plastered his face.

Wary of the fire, he grabbed the vat of oil with his good hand and dragged it over to the corner, watching the fire follow after him. Once he was done and sure the fire will follow, he sat at the desk that once held the chief of the Eternals and sighed.

"I will say this one more time, Skady," the insurgent called out, taking off his mask and placing it down, revealing his face, which bore some similarity to Scotland, "bring your fucking body inside my room."

M:   The countries gladly burst down the door, Esha using her water dragon powers to put out the fire before holding the insurgents at arrow point. Askad and Royal came in behind her, wary of the oil possibly reigniting, and stood with their friend against Chrysalis."

"It's over, you spawn of Xisaldir," Esha growled, her eyes as red as blood, "you should consider yourself lucky the British want you alive, otherwise, you would be long dead by now."

Askad pushed Esha out of the way and slammed his hands on the desk, "WHERE IS SHE, I know you have her, you tricked me into thinking she was dead, tell me where she is, NOW!!!!!"

N:   "'Where is she'," Chrysalis replied mockingly, "Why are you Eternals so needy? Was my hospitality not good enough?"

"Listen, you son of a bitch," Royal snapped, holding up her sword to the insurgent, "you have been a pain in the arse for way too long. You're surrounded now, the Jacobites gone, now just answer the bloody question!"

The insurgent held up his hands in defeat, "Fine, but just for your information, it doesn't make sense to call me a son of a-" but was interrupted when the Brit slashed the tip of her sword on his cheek. "Seriously," he grumbled as he held his face, "that wasn't necessary."

The insurgent tried to stand up but was swiftly kept down, and as he explained that he was trying to show Askad what he wanted, Royal agreed to keep close to the insurgent, promising him that she will impale him if he does anything else. The insurgent only shrugged and made his way to a corner of the room, placing his hand on the cloth that covered a box-like object.

"It's interesting to see the abilities you Eternals have," he commented, "I'm not sure if it's just desperation from a father, but I am impressed." He pulled the cloth away to reveal a single wing, the end from which it was separated from a body completely dried with blood, but the feathers kept in good condition, as if maintained. "It is kind of weird that you were able to sense it too," he added, "but I don't blame you, you clearly have an eye, or a nose," he chuckled at his own joke, "for that magnificent daughter of yours."

M:   Askad was frozen, staring that the wing while everything else faded away. Seeing the severed limb, and realizing his hopes were risen for nothing, completely broke him. Tears gushed from his eyes as he let out the most heart-wrenching wail a living creature could make, dropping onto his hands and crying the hardest he ever had before.

Esha roared in pure hatred and shot Chrysalis in the leg, then pushed him against the wall with her dagger to his throat.

"You are without a doubt the evilest man I have ever met," she hissed, "it will give me great pleasure in slaying you once the British are done with you. You best make peace with whatever gods you believe in, because they will not save you from your fate."

She stabbed the insurgent in his other shoulder and use the dagger as leverage to throw him to the ground, tying up his hands with some spare rope she always carried.

N:   Chrysalis cried in pain, his whole body aching as Esha tied him up. "If I'm evil then you'll live to see Prussia," he spoke weakly as he tried to make light of the situation, "Wald tells me that he does some next-level shit."

"Shut up," Royal ordered as she kicked the insurgent hard right in the face, "no one wants your input, and I would like to be done with this so I can hand you over to Esha."

"Well, it will be my pleasure," the insurgent smiled, trying his best to turn and see the draconic Eternal, "it's hard for any of us insurgents to make peace, so I will have a wonderful time spending time with you for the rest of your life-" but he was soon shut up by the hybrid who used the hilt of her sword to slam against his temple, knocking him out.

"Finally," she exhaled as she looked around the room to properly take it in. There were some remnants of the Eternals who used to live there, but the Jacobin influence was strong, with references to the Scottish cultures here and there. 'But it's all probably a front,' she thought as she carefully walked around, 'an excuse for what he actually did.'

"We better check on the others," Royal spoke, and she then looked over to Askad and muttered to Esha, "What can we do about him?"

M:   "He thought his daughter was alive Royal, and those hopes were dashed away," Esha muttered sadly, "there's nothing we can do ... except ..."

She walked over to the severed wing and picked it up, it sicken her how small it was, probably no bigger than her arm, nonetheless, she stood and walked over to Askad, kneeling in front of him. He stopped crying at this point and was dead silent, Esha raised his chin slightly, and just as she feared, he had shattered.

She wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do or not, but she set the wing into the naga's hands. Askad stared at it, running his hand along the nearly pristine feathers, feeling how cold it was. He slowly brought it to his chest and hugged it, not able to muster any more tears, as he said his goodbyes to his Sofia.

N:   Royal didn't comment and only picked up Chrysalis and sling him over her shoulder. "Let's see how Saxon reacts when he sees you," she muttered as she walked over to the door, slipping a bit on the oil.

"We should go," she spoke, aware it was not a good time, but it had to be said, "It's not safe here."

M:   "We'll meet you there," Esha said, not taking her eyes off of Askad, "make sure Odrus is ok, he looked quite pale when we saw him, I'm worried that he tried to use healing charms."

After Royal left, Esha put a comforting hand on Askad's shoulder, though her face looked more confused than anything.

 "That wonderful daughter of yours," she repeated what Chrysalis said, "why would he say that, it sounded like he knew her or something, I don't understand it."

Askad made eye contact with Esha, "What are you saying?"

Esha shrugged, "I don't know yet, the way he said that was just strange, like he was implying something. I'll find out what it is, I promise, but for now let's just get out of here, ok."

Askad stared at Esha for a moment, then slowly nodded and followed her out, still holding the wing.

N:   Royal went ahead, tracing back her steps to where she last saw Odrus when Julian found her.

"Thank goodness your back," the young man spoke, and he glanced at the insurgent, "and you got him, nice. Anyway, Josef still has the venom in him and Odrus isn't doing any better."

The hybrid nodded and followed him to where they were, worried for all of them. "I would stay, but I can't," she apologized, "I need to take Chrysalis to the dungeons; keep an eye on him in case the worst happens," the Brit glanced over to her clipped primaries, "and I might have to walk there."

M:   Odrus was leaning against a crate, tired from all the energy he spent trying to extract the venom from Josef, there was still a little left but it shouldn't be enough to kill him within the hour. The eternal looked over to Royal and saw her sliced feathers.

"Oh, don't worry about that, clipped feathers are easy to grow back," he smiled, "it's a spell a child can easily master."

He snapped his fingers and Royal's feathers were good as new, though he did have to cover his mouth to keep from throwing up again, "and I think that is enough magic for me today." he muttered, passing out soon after.

N:   "Wait don't," Royal began but Odrus was already done and passed out, so she just shook her head. "Well, it seems like you have to watch the both of them until Esha and Askad arrive," she spoke to Julian.

"I shall do my best," the other answered, giving a salute to lighten the mood, getting a smile from the hybrid before she went with some soldiers back to the compound. Julian then went to make sure both Odrus and Josef were comfortable, since the latter fell asleep while the Eternal was helping him, then he waited for the other Eternals.

M:   A few minutes later, Esha came back in her dragon form, Askad was curled up on her back and was still hugging the little wing.

"Don't ask," she said before Julian could speak, "just ... don't say anything, this is a personal issue. Get everyone on my back so we can go, I hope Prometheus is happy with what he got us into."

Once everyone was on her back she carried them out of the caves and caught up with Royal, she noticed that most of the British were waiting for them, she wasn't surprised of course, she let a smile cross her face since she would get to see the look on Saxon's face when he sees that they caught Chrysalis.

N:   When they finally reached the compound, BE was the one to meet them, wanting to see for himself that they had found Chrysalis. "I can't believe my eyes," he said as he walked up to Royal, "we finally got the bastard."

"You better thank Askad," the woman replied, "he was the one who chased him down ... but," she quickly glanced back at the naga, "I'll brief you later, now we need to take them all inside."

The empire nodded and motioned the group inside, some went to the infirmary, Julian took Josef to Prometheus, and Royal carried Chrysalis to the dungeons.

M:   Neflen and Uskaine were in the infirmary to check up on the latter's legs, so when Esha came in carrying their friends they were concerned.

"We got him," she said, laying down so the nurses could take Odrus, "the leader, he was there and we caught him, Royal took him down to the dungeons."

The two were speechless at first, but that shock was replaced by utter joy and relief, cheering that the man who gave them so much grief was finally caught. However, as Esha told them what happened, and the fact that Askad hadn't moved from her back, the emotions went from joy to sorrow in an instant, and Uskaine came over to help Askad down.

"From what it sounds like, I feel like Chrysalis was lying," the draconic eternal commented as she unshifted, "I don't want to get any hopes up, but what he said just isn't sitting with me right."

"Maybe you should talk to BE about this," Neflen suggested, "he knows this better than anyone since he's dealt with Chrysalis longer than us. Uskaine and I will watch over Askad and Odrus, you go and figure this out."

Esha nodded and left without another word, figuring BE would be in the dungeon with Royal.

N:   In the dungeons, an empire and a hybrid stood next to a cell observing an unconscious insurgent while an entity stood further away, leaning against a wall.

"Manslaughter, arson, assault, bribery, causing the near extinction of the Eternals, the list goes on," BE spoke as he answered Royal's question of what was Chrysalis' crimes, "this will be one hell of a court proceeding."

 "And you're going to do nothing," the hybrid asked as she turned to face Saxon.

The entity had woken up earlier as he sensed that his insurgent was nearby, and when he turned to face Royal, he shrugged. "I'm currently investigating his past activities and seeing if what he did violated our agreement. If it turns out to show he did something wrong, then I don't give a damn about him."

 "And if he didn't?" The entity remained silent.

M:   "If he didn't, you're still not going to do anything about it," Esha growled when she walked up to them, "after BE is finished with him, he will be handed over to us, and that is not a suggestion either. I personally don't care about his insurgent stuff, it's what he did to our people that he needs to pay for, but don't worry, we'll make sure he suffers for what he did to you as well."

Esha calmed herself before she continued, "On that note, I think he's hiding something still. He played a very dirty trick earlier, he kept one of Askad's daughter's wings and the sent tricked him into thinking she was still alive, he shattered when he realized he was mistaken, but something is bugging me."

She waved her hand and a little black wing materialized in her hands, "this is a replica, Askad has the real one, but look at it, aside from the dried blood it looks almost perfect, and I'm pretty sure Chrysalis attacked the colony several months ago. Even if he maintained the feathers it still would have rotted to the bone long ago, and he said something suspicious. 'You clearly have an eye, or a nose, for that magnificent daughter of yours,' now ignore the first part, why would he say magnificent like he knew her, maybe I'm overthinking everything, but I feel like he's trying to throw us off. What do you guys think?"

N:   "What are you trying to say," BE questioned as he approached the Eternal, observing the wing, "that Askad's daughter is still alive? Wouldn't you think I would have heard something about it by now?"

"You do remember that this is Chrysalis we're asking about," Royal pointed out as she kept an eye on the insurgent, "it took us years to finally get him, plus we haven't heard of the Eternals' existence in your kingdom until now, so anything is possible." She stared at the insurgent for a bit longer, as if making sure he wasn't faking his unconsciousness, and turned to Saxon, "What do you know?"

"As much as you," he shrugged as he pushed himself off the wall, "I've been away for months and I don't really look into my insurgents' activities, if whatever they are doing results in what I want."

M:   "I remember Celtica telling me about Ireland's conversation with Askad and you, BE," Esha stated, making the replica wing disappear, "how he said there was a cage and a brown scale left behind when Chrysalis was there, and how he thought Askad was the one who was kept there. I doubt he still has the scale but it could have come from Sofia."

Esha looked into the cell and lowly growled in her throat, "The horrors that little girl must have been put through, to be only two years old and mutilated the way Askad described. If she is still alive we must find her, a child that young doesn't deserve any of that."

She turned to BE, "You have to help us find her, we don't know your kingdom well so I wouldn't even know where to start, please help, for Askad, and for Sofia."

N:   "This not exactly the smallest of kingdoms," BE spoke, "and you are asking me to try to find someone Chrysalis has supposedly purposely hidden from us and could be anywhere in this kingdom. It is a big ask."

"But we will try our best," Royal added, "we have highlighted places where he usually works, but then we have to get some information out of him," she glanced at Saxon, "and think more like an insurgent."

"And I will continue with my investigation," the entity said as he made his way out of the dungeons, taking one last look at the insurgent before leaving.