N:   The three of them waved goodbye as everyone went their own way, and as soon as they left Ireland went and picked up a heavy bucket. "I bet your royal arses haven't done a decent amount of physical labor," he commented, walking away so they can start at the bottom.

"If so, take a guess who took care of your impossible self when you were a child," England countered, calling out to him.

"Dad!"

The Englishman let out a sigh of annoyance as he picked up some tools and followed his son, with BE following soon after with the servants. "May God help us," was all he said.

Meanwhile, Johann followed with Esha and walked beside her. "So," he asked, "what sort of fun are you think to teach Prometheus?"

M:   "I don't know, I was thinking of taking him hunting and just putting an invisibility spell on him so the sun can't see him, but I don't know if he would want to take that risk."

They kept walking until they eventually found the tailor and she explained her idea, "My spell will last a good five hours and will make you invisible only to your enemies. And if you don't like hunting we can just have a relaxing horseback ride around the area, what do you say?"

N:   "I don't hunt," Prometheus replied, "but a horseback ride would be nice, although," he hesitated, "I'm not entirely sure if the spell would work. But we will never know if we don't try, right?"

"Great," Johann smiled, "let's go," as the three of them went out to get their steeds.

Just before the tailor went outside, Esha cast the invisibility spell on him, and when he took a step outside, he held his breath, "I guess the eight-minute timer starts now." After a while, he thought of something, "if I'm invisible, how will you see me?"

M:   "It only makes you invisible to those who wish you harm," Esha explained, "Johann and I don't want to hurt you so we can see you just fine, and this spell lasts a good five hours so if we want to stay out longer I will have to redo it."

She put her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud whistle, she waited for a moment then whistled again, tilting her head when nothing happened.

"Hmm, I wonder where Sleip is," she asked, "Johann, you haven't happened to have seen him, have you?"

N:   "Ja, I have," Johann answered, "he was with Edel earlier, since he was a bit upset, and then he started to give Sleip a bath. They are probably sleeping now." He leaned closer to the Eternal and whispered, "If you ask me, your horse and Edel are getting real close."

M:   Esha hummed in confusion, "Strange, dragons and Sigvens are natural enemies, Sleip and I had our fair share of fights with hungry dragons, I wonder why he likes Edel so much."

Esha tried one more time to whistle for Sleipner, and finally the octo-horse came trotting out of the woods. Esha let out an amused sigh and went over to greet her steed and bring him over to Prometheus.

"I don't know if you properly met Sleipner," she said, scratching the horse's chin, "he's the last of his kind, we've been partners since the days of the empire. He used to be called Lagoon but he wandered off and inspired the myth of Sleipner, so the name stuck."

Slep nickered and gently nuzzled Prometheus, quietly thanking him for helping Esha come out of stasis.

N:   Prometheus smiled as he scratched under Sleipner's chin, "Well it's nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry about what happened to your species, but I wish that you will have a long and prosperous life."

He took a step back to properly admire the horse, "You know what, on the topic of mythical horses, let me show mine."

The tailor loudly whistled and soon came the sound of galloping, until a large stallion stood beside him, his bright speckled spots decorating his dark brown hair.

"This here," Prometheus patted the horse, "is Belios. I created him myself, since I felt sort of lonely by myself, and he has been alive all this time. What made him famous was that he was used in the Trojan War, pulling the chariot of Achilles." The horse nickered at the mention of the war, turning his head away from them. "But we don't really talk about the war," the tailor explained, "not the most pleasant of memories." To comfort the steed, he ran his fingers through his mane, and slowly Belios got better.

"Look at you with your immortal horses," Johann tutted, "let me go and get my normal horse and let's head out."

M:   Esha laughed at Johann's jealousy, "Humans, they're never satisfied, at least he's just a young one."

She led Sleipnir a few steps back and snapped her fingers, a saddle and reins appeared on the ground next to her and she picked them up to put them on her steed.

"I got to say, the reins were the hardest part to make myself," she commented, "since Sleipnir's an omnivore and has a wider mouth than horses, it's difficult to design something that doesn't hinder his mouth."

While she was putting on the reins she asked, "So do you only make clothes nowadays or do you have other talents?"

N:   "Oh I have many talents," Prometheus replied, "it's just that I needed to do something to pass the years so I did tailoring. I've actually been a tailor in both the Spanish and Portuguese courts before coming here to the British Isles. I tried being a teacher once, even a merchant for fun, but I always like creating things and fixing too, so I stuck with tailoring."

He just sat down in the grass, since Belios was already saddled when he arrived, staring at the ground when suddenly a small flower grew from where he was looking. "Let me ask you a question," he said, "what will you do now, along with the rest of the Eternals? After you deal with Chrysalis, what comes next? You've been freed and your existence will be known to the whole world."

M:   Esha stopped in her movements, staring at the leather straps with melancholy.

"We're too old to change, Prometheus," she said, not looking away, "you got lucky, you adapted to hide in plain sight and have lived through all the changes this world has gone through. The eternals are basically extinct, five people won't make a difference about that, we're doomed to die out."

Esha finally turned to the other, "I've been on this hunk of rock for hundreds of thousands of years, never getting to leave the island and explore what the supercontinent broke off into, I might do some exploring, possibly document the few remaining magical creatures and protect them from humans."

N:   "The world is beautiful," Prometheus said, "from the places not suitable for life to the wonderful nature now, you will never get bored. I've done a bit of traveling myself and I could recommend places to you if you want."

The tailor fell silent as he thought before he sighed, "I would help you, but it's in my nature that I can't. It's not like the situation with Sofia, but to help restore a species would go entirely against nature, and nature is a force to be reckoned with."

He stood up and walked up to Esha as he heard footsteps nearing, sensing that they belong to Johann. In his hand, he formed a blue crystal, its surface reflecting off the light, and a chain connecting to one end of it. "Take this," he spoke, "if you smash this, it would create an invisible beacon which I could only sense, so you can use this to call me. I don't know what will happen in the future, but if you require me for help or just to talk, use it."

M: Esha stared at it for a moment before she took it, rubbing her thumb over its smooth surface. She smiled and thanked Prometheus for the gift, tucking it into her pocket for the time being before jumping on Sleipnir's back.

"Alright, I say we head for the lake first and go from there," she suggested, "if we're lucky I might be able to catch some fish for lunch."

N:   "Did someone say fish," Johann called out as he came around the corner with Comet, who was already saddled, "they are fun to chase."

"You tried chasing a fish," Prometheus chuckled as he mounted Belios, "how much energy do you have?"

"Enough to get me through the day and more, but just enough to not tire out my fathers too much." He mounted Comet, who was happy to be finally out of the stables, and he continued, "At least I use that energy to race, or something the occasional prank."

The tailor only chuckled as they followed Esha to the lake, chatting along the way.

M:   "I truly am surprised at how much energy a human body can house," Esha said, she had to look down at them since Sleipnir was nearly twice as big as the men's horses, "it's fascinating to me how non-magical creatures are able to expel that energy through simple things such as endurance, I suppose it's the same way as any creature but it's interesting nonetheless."

When they reached the water, Esha smiled, she felt right at home here in more ways than one.

"My base is underneath that island in the middle," she told Johann, "that's where I've lived ever since I left the colony, the main entrance is at the bottom of the lake and I dug the tunnel long enough that any mortal would drown long before they reached the air pocket, but now that I have so many friends, and the fact that I don't want to abandon my cave, I'll make a much safer entrance so you guys can visit every now and then."

N:   "Nice," Johann said as he gave the thumbs up, "I'll like to see your cave, it probably has lots of interesting things in it, and guess what," he dismounted as he walked to Esha on foot, "I am honored to be considered your friend."

He made sure that his steed was secured before taking off his boots and walking towards the water, allowing his toes to dip in it. "Now," he announced, "who's ready to catch some fish?"

Prometheus only shook his head in amusement as he dismounted, leading Belios toward the shade. "I'll sit out this one," he said, "I'm fine just watching you."

M:  "Aww, come on Promethy, afraid of getting wet," Esha teased, "you don't have to do the fishing, come relax in the water, it's hot out today anyway."

Esha hopped off and let Sleipnir wander, she then took flight and dove into the lake like a seagull catching fish, surfacing soon after and gently swimming around on her back.

"Maybe we'll see your parents and friends soon too," she said when she floated closer to Johann, "everyone's had a rough week so I sent some notes to invite them down, because there is nothing more relaxing than a good swim, even though I'm a winged eternal I feel much more at home in the water, thanks to my water dragon genes."

N:   "That is true," Johann said with a mischievous smile, "but a good game will be way more fun." As he spoke, he quickly pushed Esha underwater by surprise and ran off in a random direction, accidentally tripping and falling into the water, soaking his clothes.

Prometheus smiled as he sat from afar, and after a moment of contemplating, he told Belios to stay in the shade as he made his way to the water. The moment he stepped in, he suddenly felt the feeling of reassurance, that he was in his own domain, so he walked into the water. He allowed the water to rise to his waist before lying down to float on his back, closing his eyes as he smiled with contentment, and floated further into the center of the lake.

When he had gotten far enough, he then began to sink, sinking deep into the lake as he opened his eyes, watching the light dwindle the deeper he went. Eventually, he reached the bottom, so he laid down had crossed over his legs, looking up as he was mesmerized by the few streaks of light trying to make their way through.

"Finally," he muttered, "peace."

M:   When Esha went under she was surprised at first, but instinctively swam away only to charge back and tackle Johann into the shallows.

"Seriously, challenge an aquatic creature to a water fight," she teased as she pinned Johann down, though not to where she was drowning him, "you are so dorky and I love it, well, let's have at it, just try to catch me, I'm one fish that is too fast for you."

With that, she jumped away and dove into the dark water, swimming like an alligator or a sea snake, she was certain that Johann would be too slow to catch her, but to be nice she refrained from diving too deep.

N:   Johann tried his best to chase Esha, but running in water dragged his legs immensely, so instead he tried swimming after her, but even then she was too far ahead. After what seemed like an eternity of chasing, the Mandorian was close to giving up when he heard rustling in the trees, and out popped Wolfgang.

"Where are the others," the Mandorian asked.

"They are right behind me. What the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to catch Esha. Wanna help?" When the Saxon seemed skeptical to help, Johann added, "What is it Wolfe, too scared?"

Wolfgang grumbled as he kicked off his boots and ran into the water, and the two men chased down the Eternal.

M:   Esha poked her head out of the water and smiled at the two men teaming up.

"Come on, what makes you think another pair of land legs can help you," she taunted them, "grow some gills then maybe you might stand a chance!"

She dove under and swam over to them, circling around them to further taunt their sluggishness in water, and swam away.

Soon the others showed up, the Eternals aside from Askad all laughed at the two boys trying to catch Esha, the aforementioned naga only came to keep an eye on Uskaine so he simply went over to the shade to take a nap.

Rowen and Mandoria were riding on their horses so they could let them out of the pen for a bit, they even brought Star Dust and Xanthos's foal with them. The couple laughed a bit too as they watched their son playing in the water.

"Johann, what are you doing chasing Esha," Rowen called out to him, "are you trying to drown yourself?"

N:   "Only if Wolfgang doesn't get in my damn way," Johann called back as he leaped to get Esha, only for her to swim away and for him to be completely drenched. He watched as Esha kept on circling around them until he got an idea.

"Wolfe," he called as he quickly turned to the Saxon, "I need to get on your shoulders."

"Bist du schon ganz verrückt (are you out of your mind)," Wolfgang yelled back, "nein, there's no way."

"I have to. We can't move quickly while we're in the water, but I can launch from you."

"Why don't I go on yours? You are taller."

"But I don't have much of this," Johann explained, slapping Wolfe's arm, "you have the strength to carry me, I'll literally crumble under your heavy arse."

The Saxon pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but he saw the Mandorian's logic, even if it was crazy. He got onto one knee, allowing the other to sit on his shoulders, and he carefully stood up, holding on to Johann so he doesn't fall.

Meanwhile, Erna and Heinrich were the last to arrive, with Josef and Julian deciding to stay behind, and they went to sit underneath a tree. The man was still silent, still affected from when he saw the Austrian, and it took a lot of convincing for him to follow Erna. Once he had sat down, he saw Johann on Wolfgang's shoulders and he couldn't help but smile a bit. "What is the idiot doing now," he muttered.

The Mandorian waited for the right moment, just when Esha turns towards them, as he dangerously wobbled on the Saxon's shoulders. After a couple more circlings, he readied his foot on the other's shoulder, and when the moment was right, he leaped towards the Eternal. Because of the jump, Wolfgang was pushed back and fell into the water.

M:   Esha yelped as she was tackled, initially panicking and swimming sporadically like she was a bucking seahorse trying to knock off her rider, even diving deeper into the lake. When she realized what happened she laughed, which sounded more muffled underwater but understandable.

"I did not expect that at all," she laughed, forgetting for the moment how deep they were, "alright, you got me, I'll give you that, you're so clever."

Esha didn't know why, but there was a little feeling deep in her stomach starting to form, she couldn't describe it, but being around Johann made her feel a happy that she hasn't felt with anyone else.

N: Johann, on the other hand, was definitely aware of how deep they were, and he didn't take a deep breath before he jumped, so he began to panic. Esha also accidentally hit his head while she was thrashing about, which didn't help either, so for a moment he couldn't figure out which way is upwards.

The moment that Johann and Esha went under for some time, Heinrich became increasingly worried for his friend, and when Wolfgang resurfaced, he called out, "wo ist Johann (where is Johann)?"

The Saxon only looked around, confused why the Mandorian wasn't with him, and he swore under his breath, and dived under. It didn't take long too to find them, and he immediately swam toward Johann, holding him still to stop him from panicking.

Johann's movements were already sluggish, and seeing he needs to surface soon, the Saxon turned to Esha, silently pleading with her to take them both back.

M: Only when Wolfgang interveined did Esha remember that most humans can't breathe underwater, shouting "Oh fuck" before she gripped Johann as well. She realized that Johann didn't have enough oxygen to make it to the surface and if she swam up too fast the change in pressure could give him a heart attack.

"Johann, please don't take this personally," she said, then before he could do anything, she pulled him close and connected their mouths.

Being an aquatic Eternal, she had the ability to exhale oxygen in large or small quantities, it was an adaptive ability so her kind could carve out underwater cities and fill up the buildings with breathable air, or in this case, save a drowning person by allowing them breath for a moment.

Esha had to be careful not to exhale too much and explode Johann's lungs, so she only did enough to get him to the surface, and yet that short amount of time connected seemed to light something in the Eternal.

She shook it off for the moment and parted from the human, "Sorry, but you weren't going to make it to the surface, let's go now," and she led the humans through the dark water back to the surface.

M:   Wolfgang's eyes widened as he saw Esha help Johann, and the latter was losing consciousness when it happened, but the Saxon didn't have the time to process it as the Eternal led them back to the surface.

As soon as they did, the Saxon lifted up the Mandorian and carried him to shore, lying him down flat before he himself laid down from exhaustion. The Saxon parents were nearby, the four of them were previously just enjoying the view further away, when they saw the two men on the shore. Immediately, Alaric rushed over to his son to check on him only for Wolfgang to swat him away. "Help him instead," he spoke weakly, pointing to Johann who hasn't been responding.

M:   Rowen and Mandoria were sitting in the shade of a willow tree on the other side of the lake when they saw the two surface, immediately became concerned that they both were laying down exhausted, so they started hurrying over to make sure everyone was ok.

"Johann, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drag you down so far," Esha apologized as she climbed out of the lake, "are you ok, Johann, please wake up."

She leaned down to listen for his breathing and was relieved that he was, although shallowly, so she focused on gently slapping his face to get him to wake up.

N:   It took a while before Johann began to respond, and the moment he was awake, he immediately slapped Esha's hands away before turning around and throwing up all the water he swallowed.

Wolfgang, with his father's assistance, sat up and rubbed Johann's back to help him out, and just for extra measure slapped his back really hard.

"What was that for," the Mandorian wheezed.

"You know," the Saxon explained, "just in case there was any water left."

Johann rolled his eyes as he sat up, taking in deep breaths to help him relax, since for one second he actually thought he would drown. When Esha asked if he was ok, he slowly nodded, "ja, I will be."

M:   Esha let out a breath of pure relief, then rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "I'm really sorry about that, when you jumped on me I thought I was being hunted by a roc or a griffin, since those are common predators for us, so I swam deeper to get away, then momentarily forgot that you can't breathe underwater like I can, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Johann, what happened," Rowen asked as he and Mandoria came closer, "are you hurt, what happened?"

N:   "I'm fine, don't worry," Johann reassured them as he did a quick look over to see any cuts, "I didn't get injured; I was just dazed when Esha took me under. Eventually, Wolfgang found us, and he was going to take us up, but I couldn't hold my breath for long, so then Esha-," but then he fell silent when he began to remember what happened, his face turning red as he did.

"And the idiot finally remembers," Wolfgang sighed as a small smirk crept onto his face.

"Umm," the Mandorian stuttered as he turned to the Eternal, "I- um so- er ... danke for what you did down there. You saved me."

M:   When the situation hit Esha she also got a little red in the face, hiding her face in her hands and muttering, "Sure, no problem."

"Um, what did Esha do," Mandoria asked, concerned, "why do you both look redder than me?"

"Eshie, did you kiss him," Neflen gasped as he popped out of nowhere, "you did, didn't you, you gave him your kiss of life!"

"Shut up Neflen," Esha barked, "he would have drowned if I didn't."

Neflen wasn't listening and kept chanting, "Eshie's got a boyfriend," until she shifted into her dragon form and chased after him to pound him. Mandoria and Rowen looked confused and didn't know what to say.

"Um, I don't know what to say about that," was all that the countryhuman said.

N:   "Me neither," Johann replied as he slowly got to his feet, watching as Esha went after Neflen.

"I mean," Wolfgang smiled as he got up too, "at least you're following your father's footsteps," as he nodded over to Rowen, getting an angered glance from the Mandoria.

The Mandorian looked down at his clothes, looking down at his soaked clothes, and back up to his parents. "Um, just forget what happened, but did you by chance bring spare clothes? I think I'll spend the rest of the time just relaxing on dry land."

M:  "Yeah, we did, we figured you might want to get wet," Mandoria said, trying his best to shake off what happened, then he took his leave to grab them, while Rowen stared pointedly at Wolfgang for his comment.

Over the next hour or so, everyone just relaxed and enjoyed themselves, swimming in the lake periodically but mostly hanging out on the beach, Edel even came around and swam with Sleipnir.

The only one who was not joining in the antics was Askad, he found a large bolder that partially hung over the lake and was coiled on top of it, the tip of his tail dipped in the water. He watched through grey eyes as everyone else had fun, not showing any emotion as he was deep in his thoughts.

N:   Heinrich saw Askad from afar, and wanting to see if he was ok, stood up from his spot and went over to him.

"Heinz, come back," Maria called out, worried for her son since he hasn't been stable recently, but the man ignored her as he headed to the naga.

When he finally arrived, he didn't speak for a while, only letting the Eternal know his presence as he walked around in circles, water reaching his knees. "I heard what happened," he began slowly, "is there anything I can do to help you?"

M:   Askad watched him as he walked, not saying anything or acknowledging that he was there other than his eyes.

"If you could, you would be the most powerful man on the planet," he muttered, "I've only heard of five people that have ever unlocked the power of resurrection, apparently the only one alive just does it to make others suffer."

He shifted so he was looking away from Heinrich but still keeping him in his peripheral, "I noticed that you aren't interacting with the others, why is that, you seem like a sociable person with how many friends you have, why condemn yourself to solitude while the others enjoy themselves?"

N:   Heinrich didn't say anything for a moment as he just stared out into the lake, hands in pockets, although he did wonder how Askad doesn't know about the plan for Sofia, he let it slide.

"It's hard to enjoy yourself when you have something weighing down on you," he replied, his eyes turning glassy, "like you want to enjoy yourself, but at the same time you feel ... like it is not the time to have fun."

The Saxon shuffled his feet when he added, "And I didn't want you to be alone."

M:  "I know how you feel," The naga sighed, "I too feel like it's not the time for enjoyment, with the fall of the last colony of Eternals and now the emotional crash over my daughter for a second time, it feels wrong to have fun when you should be mourning over those you lost."

He glanced back over to Heinrich, "So what's weighing you down, they say sorrow likes company, maybe sharing it will help; what's on your mind?"

N:   Heinrich looked up at Askad before going back to staring into the lake. "It's just," he began, "um, back in Prussia, there was this girl, who goes by Christina. She had to go through the same hell as all of us Saxons to become a knight, and we had grown close over the years. I started to like her more than just a friend, and the feeling was mutual."

The Saxon took a deep breath as he tried to push down the lump in his throat, and he could feel tears building up in his eyes. "But one day, she wanted to go against Prussia, so she told how the bastard was making us loyal to him to her father, going directly against the oath we took. She was later called, along with her parents and us Saxon knights and ... and," he couldn't bring himself to continue, the memory of how she was slaughtered replayed in his mind, so he lowered his head and quietly wept.

"Prussia beheaded her and had her parents drawn and quartered in front of us," he finally said, when he calmed down a bit.

"After that, I secretly had a relationship with my partner since we always do patrols together, and he was so nice and considerate, but then I learn that he was the one who snitched on Ina," his tone began to show hints of anger, "and I swore that if I saw him ever again I'll beat the shit out of him."

Heinrich sighed as he felt as if a heavy load was lifted off his chest, although not completely, but enough. "And all this suddenly crashed on me now because Josef is Christina's brother, and I can't see his face without seeing her."

M:   Askad was quiet as he listened, not showing any emotion while Heinrich told his heart-wrenching story.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I wish I could say I can relate but I've never had something like that with any of my mates," he said, "though I suppose there was one time where I had a crush taken away from me before we could become serious. She was another naga, her name lost to the sands of time, we were attacked by a griffon pair and she was snatched away, never to be seen again. She had a twin sister and it pained me to be around her since all I could see was my love, it was hard for the both of us."

He slowly wrapped his tail around Heinrich's waist and hoisted him onto the rock with him, "I did eventually get over the grief and was able to hang around the sister without feeling upset, what I did was remind myself that it was a two-way grief. She was saddened around me because I was so close to her sister, and seeing me reminded her of her, so, rather than dwell on my own grief, I focused on helping her with hers, and doing so helped me with mine."

Askad smiled tiredly, "I know it hurts seeing your friend's brother, but it's also hard for him to see his sister's friend, and if you help each other, the pain won't be so difficult to handle anymore."

N:   Heinrich only hummed as he laid himself on Askad's tail, closing his eyes as he listens to the Eternal's breathing and the water beneath them. He was already tired, and to relive the moment only made him even more exhausted, so he allowed himself to relax.

"I hate Prussia," was all he said before falling silent once more.

Meanwhile, Johann was watching the whole interaction from afar, not being able to hear what they were saying but to see Heinrich crying alone almost made him go to him.

"Let them be," Maria advised the Mandorian as she sat him down, "they need each other right now, and it's best that you leave them alone."

Johann sat defeated on the beach, his head in his hands as he spoke to himself, "It's not fair that he had to suffer while I was free in Mandoria. I should have been with him; I shouldn't have run away."

"Now listen to me, Kress," Erna snapped, catching him by surprise, "you running away was probably the best thing you have done in your life because I do not wish that anyone would ever go through the hell we did when you left."

Johann just stared blankly at her before turning away to see Heinrich resting, not sure how to feel.

M:   Askad didn't comment, he coiled around Heinz a little more so he was gently hugging the other, he knew that for any trauma the best cure was time, that sometimes it was best to just have a quiet moment with your thoughts. The naga wouldn't admit it, but he liked Heinz, he felt rather parental around him and he wanted to protect him, although his failure at protecting his daughter still rang clear in his mind, he wanted to have a second chance, and maybe Heinz was that chance.

"You know, if you ever need someone to talk to, or just some quiet time away from everyone else, I'll be more than willing to be there for you," he said, "if you don't want to communicate with your friend's brother, then that's fine, I'll be there for you, maybe we can help each other somehow."

N:   Heinrich didn't initially react when Askad spoke, only getting himself in the naga's coils until he rested his head on his arms, his face turned to face the other. "Danke," he quietly muttered before slowly falling asleep.

A couple more hours had passed, and since he was getting slightly bored from being at the bottom of the lake, Prometheus decided to swim up to shore. He was initially confused to see Heinrich and Askad together, but he didn't say anything as he went to sit down beside Johann, his clothes drying themselves the moment they left the water.

"Where were you," the Mandorian asked.

"Right at the bottom," the tailor replied, "I was going to doze off, but luckily I didn't."

Johann gave him a confused look but instead he just ignored it as they watched the water.