M:   Askad was coiled in a corner and resting his head on his arms, and those on his tail as he watched the interrogation. He wouldn't react to anything, it was like a statue was watching the two Brits.

The naga was actually nodding off slightly when he heard Chrysalis crack, though he didn't know how to react to it.

"So that's it, huh, she's dead after all," he muttered, taking the six feet under literally, "I never should have believed otherwise."

N:   "No, she's alive alright," Saxon spoke as he was freed, discreetly asking the guard to bring a medic so Chrysalis doesn't die, "he's saying that she's six feet underground, like a sort of basement, which really narrows down the options. Normal houses don't usually have basements as it's more expensive to add them, but the buildings which definitely have basements are churches."

Ignoring the fact that he looked like he came from a battlefield, well in some sense he did, he walked up to the naga and continued, "There are two local parish churches in the neighboring towns, one's to the north and the other to the south of the castle, so we will be able to search them for Sofia." He turned to Wren, who was comfortably sitting on a chair, having watched the torture like some sort of show. "Wren, do you think you can have the soldiers dispatched?"

"On normal circumstances, yes," she answered, "but this is a church you're talking about, they are not going to exactly welcome the soldiers with welcome arms. First I have to notify BE, and since he is the head of the church, he will give me permission to enter armed."

M:   "Then let us go," Askad said, determination filling his voice as his eyes regained their flame-like color, "I'm sick of hiding, if my daughter is alive then I will get her back no matter what, and if that means exposing the Eternals to the humans then so be it."

Askad looked to Wren, "BE is out of commission, remember, his word doesn't mean anything for the next month, besides, wouldn't the church want to help the innocent, or does religion work differently for the Short-Lives?"

Without waiting for a response, he transformed into his snake form and slithered out of the dungeons to rally his friends, if the British couldn't save Sofia, then he will take matters into his own hands.

N:   Wren and Saxon watched as Askad slithered away, the latter slightly jumped at the sight of him but he pushed it aside as much as he can. "Don't tell me he's going to the churches as that," the hybrid spoke as they made their way out of the dungeons, "he's literally asking to be killed."

"I feel if they saw either of Uskaine or Askad, things could go south," Saxon agreed as they stepped out, only to come across Wales.

The Welshman gave the entity a once over before asking, "Grandfather, did you just murder someone?"

"Almost," he brushed aside, "anyway, since you are acting on Albion's behalf, could you grant us permission to send troops to the two local parish churches."

Wales blinked in confusion, but when they filled him in, he immediately granted their wish and said that he will notify BE in case someone asked. The pair thanked him as they went to gather the soldiers.

———

Julian had followed Uskaine to the library, and when he saw that the Eternal was alone, he awkwardly entered and sat on a nearby chair. A couple of minutes passed, and when the silence was getting to him, he spoke.

"Askad is just distressed from what he had to experience. Don't take it to heart as I'm sure he wouldn't have spoken to you like that. Although I agree that to watch someone getting tortured isn't the right choice, maybe he needed some sort of release, besides, we don't always think rationally when it comes to family."

M:   Uskaine surprisingly nodded in agreement, "I know, his tone just surprised me is all, he's never spoken to anyone like that before, not even when everyone was alive. I know that he needs closure, and he wants to be there when Chrysalis breaks, I was more concerned that he might get nightmares later."

Before any more could be said, the door was slammed open; Askad, Odrus, and even Neflen were standing there, all looking determined yet also angered.

"Come on Uskaine, we're getting my daughter back," Askad stated, "we know where she is, she's in the basement of one of the churches in town. I'm sick and tired of hiding, we are going out there, and we are rescuing one of our own."

Uskaine was again shocked at this new Askad, but this time a smile graced his lips, "I thought you would never say that, let's go."

N: "Shouldn't you guys wait for the British," Julian called out, but he was ignored as he saw the determination in the Eternals' eyes, and once they left he sighed as he slouched in his chair. "Let's hope they don't get killed," he muttered to himself as he grabbed a nearby book and began to read.

Meanwhile, Royal, since she switched back, was briefing the British soldiers on what to do. "Try to minimize the amount of fighting," she advised, "we know the people don't like seeing you guys roaming the streets, so this is to be a quick operation. Form a perimeter so that no one enters or escapes, and once the Eternal is found, it's our priority that she is taken back here. Is that understood?" All the soldiers nodded and began to organize themselves to leave.

Wales flew in just when Royal finished and informed her about the Eternals. "They are traveling towards the southern church," he said, "so half of the soldiers should go with them." Royal nodded in agreement and had a nearby soldier relay the message.

The hybrid glanced over to where Wolfgang and Erna were getting ready to join, and slightly further away Heinrich sat, already in the British uniform. There was still a hint of red in his eyes from crying, but he was determined to help.

"Heinz, you don't have to go," Johann spoke to him, "you're not in the right mind to help. You need to rest."

"I'm going to go, no matter what," the Saxon replied, standing up to meet the Mandorian, and their equal heights made it so they were face to face. "I said that I will help, Jo, and I will use the skills I've obtained from serving Prussia to do it," slinging his musket over his shoulder, "and you're not going to stop me."

The Mandorian grumbled in his throat but he gave in, "Fine, but make sure you take a deep breath before you shoot," making the Saxon smile for a bit before turning to the other Saxons.

"I know that you want to help," Royal informed the three, "but make sure that you blend in with the rest of the soldiers. We don't want people to think that we are allowing Prussian knights into our towns."

"Ja, we know," Wolfgang answered, inspecting the uniform that he was wearing, "but honestly, make your uniforms better, how do you blend in with this much red."

Royal only chuckled before continuing, "Wolfgang you go with Saxon to the north, Erna and Heinrich, you come with me to join the Eternals in the south." They nodded and soon they were mounted on horses and traveled to their respective churches.

M:   "I don't think this is a good idea anymore," Uskaine said as the group walked through the town, weary of all the eyes on them.

The humans gave the Eternals a pretty wide birth but otherwise didn't do anything, to them it was just a group of strange-looking countryhumans, so even though they were getting shocked looks, they were otherwise ignored.

"Actually, I don't think the humans really mind that we're here," Neflen commented, "shocked maybe, but they're not doing anything."

"Focus guys," Askad hissed, "we are here for Sofia, not the humans. Odrus, do you see her yet?"

"Not yet," he responded, "we might need to get closer to the church for me to see her."

So they did just that, Askad knocked on the door and asked the nun that answered if she noticed anything suspicious in their basement.

"Oh thank the Lord, I thought no one would come," she whispered, "yes, the Jacobites have been using it to keep their leader's pets, there are a bunch of animals in cages and we were forbidden from interfering lest we perished."

The Eternals exchanged glances, they didn't think there would be other creatures held captive, they would have to change tactics.

"Ok ma'am, gather your colleagues and get everyone to safety, Uskaine will protect you," Askad ordered, "we'll take care of your pest problem."

N:   Meanwhile, Saxon and Wolfgang were heading towards the northern church, with a dozen soldiers marching in pairs, and when they had arrived, the Saxon knocked on the door, which a member of the clergy opened. "Have you seen anything out of the ordinary recently," Wolfe asked.

The man vigorously shook his head and immediately replied, "No, no, nothing wrong here. Everything is normal," and with that, he closed the door in their faces.

"Well, isn't that rude?" Saxon commented, "he's clearly hiding something, but we can't go from the front," he turned to the human, "So let's go through the back."

———

Royal's group eventually met up with the Eternals, and when she saw the nuns and monks outside the church, she raised a brow in confusion and asked what happened.

"What do you mean 'other creatures'?" she asked after she was informed, "does that mean other Eternals or magical creatures?"

"It doesn't matter," Erna pointed out, rubbing her temples, "it's just crazy that Chrysalis keeps them as pets in the first place."

M:  "They weren't allowed in the basement when the Jacobites arrived," Askad responded, "I have my doubts that Chrysalis has anything magical other than Sofia, exotic animals would be the most likely thing to find."

"All the religious workers are accounted for," Uskaine reported, coming out of the building with two last people, "the basement door is locked and I could hear something large being pushed against it, so there are definitely Jacobites in there."

Askad nodded and turned to Royal, "Just so we're clear, is it kill on sight or arrest since this is a sacred monument?"

N:   "Arrest any Jacobites you find," Royal confirmed as she unsheathed her sword, "but only if you have to, kill them. We want to keep it as a last resort but the fewer Jacobites the better."

Once everyone was ready and a perimeter was set, they went inside in pairs, slowly and quietly to make sure that the Jacobites wouldn't hear them. Once they had reached the door, Royal tried to push against it, but as Uskaine said, something heavy was behind the door, so she turned to the Eternals and mouthed 'who can open the door?'

M:   "Stand back," Uskaine whispered, a smug smile on his face, "Odrus, is there anything behind the door?"

"No, you're good," Odrus confirmed, "it looks like there are three humans and at least 4 creatures, I can't see Sofia but she could be behind someone."

With the occupants identified and no one in the line of fire, Uskaine turned around and kicked the door with all his might, nearly disintegrating the wood and sending the empty cage flying and denting the brick wall.

The Jacobites were completely caught off guard so barely put up resistance when the Eternals restrained them. Askad immediately checked the cages for his daughter, as he predicted there were quite a few exotic animals; a snow leopard, a piebald peacock, a king cobra, a tank full of exotic fish, and a wolf.

The wolf caught Askad's eye in a way the other creatures didn't, it was a massive she-wolf with grey fur and blue eyes, she had a muzzle on to keep her from biting but underneath the straps, he could see a white spot that looked similar to a star.

"Impossible," Askad said in shock, "how- he captured Lady Ora!"

"What," the others exclaimed, "how the hell did Chrysalis capture a goddess."

Askad was about to respond when he finally caught the sent he'd been searching for, he turned to the far corner of the room and spotted a cage covered with a blanket. He slithered over and ripped the cloth off the cage, at long last he finally found her. The poor girl was just as mutilated as Askad described, she had limbs missing, the tip of her tail was severed, half of her right ear was ripped off, and a single grey eye stared up at her father.

"Oh Sofia, my sweet baby," Askad cried, both joyous and sorrowful tears leaking from his eyes, "it's okay now, Daddy's here, Daddy's going to get you out of here, I promise."

N:   Royal ordered a bunch of soldiers to help Askad to free Sofia while she and the two Saxons went over to Lady Ora's cage. The hybrid crouched down to better look at the wolf, amazed by her appearance despite the bounds, "the madman is crazier than I expected," she muttered.

Using a crowbar that was nearby, she was able to break the lock and pry the door of the cage open, and once she did, she took a step back to properly see Ora's size. "We are going to take off your muzzle," the hybrid said in advance as she took a step forward, "try not to bite my hand."

M:   The wolf didn't react much, she whined in pain and wouldn't even lift her head up.

"She looks malnourished," Neflen observed, handing his Jacobite to the British soldiers, "they all do, as well as the injuries from their tight bonds, Chrysalis clearly doesn't care what the state of his prizes are in as long as they are alive. We should take everyone with us, it's not like they have anywhere else to go."

"I would love to see you convince Saxon to let the snake come with us," Odrus said, pointing to the cobra, "if Askad as a small snake can frighten him then imagine meeting that thing."

"Stop talking and start helping," Uskaine grumbled, using his magic to open up the snow leopard's shackles, "we don't know if reinforcements might come."

Meanwhile, with Askad, he and the soldiers finally managed to free Sofia, she was very weak and shivered from her low body heat, so Askad wrapped her up in the blanket and held her close, crying that he finally had his daughter back.

N:   Meanwhile in the northern church, Saxon found a trap door that had a staircase leading down towards the basement, and although he knew it was risky, but it was one that they had to take. Signaling one of the soldiers to break the lock, they began to pour into the dark stairwell, and only one of the men had a lantern to light the way.

When it seemed like they were walking forever, they finally reached the bottom, and with swords and muskets out, they filled the end of the room, despite not being able to see. Wolfgang was about to step forward when he heard something, the subtle sound of someone breathing and the sharpening of a blade, so he asked for the lantern and walked deeper into the basement, Saxon following behind. They kept on walking until they suddenly stopped, all of them staring at a woman sitting on a chair, casually sharpening the blade of her axe.

"Róisín," Saxon grumbled, to which the insurgent looked up, her golden eyes lighting up when she saw the British. Her green skin glistened with blood, yet on her face there was none, showing the black rose and the two snakes around it on her forehead.

"It is nice to see you, Saxon," she smiled, undeterred by the number of muskets trained on her, "sorry I didn't get your letter, the messenger took a trip to the grave." Her eyes flickered between the soldiers and she sighed, "If you are looking for something, it's not here."

"We know-"

"And I know that you have your little gang in the other church," she interrupted, angering the entity, "and there will be a consequence for it." She stood up, making all the soldiers stiffen, as she walked to one side of the room and pulled a curtain, revealing a pile of dead bodies, all belonging to the clergy.

"Are you insane," Wolfgang spoke, "they did absolutely nothing," he turned to Saxon, "Are you going to do nothing?"

"Of course, he will," the Irishwoman replied, "I have done nothing wrong, haven't I?" to which the entity nodded, "All I had to do was that Ireland was never hurt, otherwise I can work which satisfies the interest of the people, which is usually to fuck around with the English." She walked forward so that she was in front of Saxon, "see? Nothing."

However, before she could react, Saxon used the tip of his sword to make a cut across Róisín's cheek. "Don't test my patience," he said calmly, however, she could see anger in his eyes, "you indirectly hurt an Eternal, who by my books is not considered English, so you did cross a line."

The insurgent held her face as she eyed the entity, wanting to punch him but knowing it will never land so she groaned, "Fine, but you better be quick. I've sent someone to the other church, and under its basement has a room jam-packed with gunpowder, so you better run before the town watches the largest bonfire."

At that mention, all the soldiers rushed out to alert the other group while Wolfgang and Saxon stayed behind for a bit. "Why did you tell us this," the Saxon asked, "weren't you and Chrysalis close?"

"Do you know how boring it is to hear that man talk for hours on end," she whined, "he is smart and thinks ahead, helpful sometimes, but sometimes I am reminded that those Scots are just as annoying as the English." She picked up her axe as she walked past them, "and although he may have caught some feelings, I have not, so may I ask that when you have him killed, tell him on my behalf that he needs to have his lips sown shut."

The Saxon shrugged and agreed, so they watched the insurgent walk away to freedom.

M:  "And that's the last one," Odrus declared, placing the last fish into a bucket, "let's get these to the cart and get out of here."

While Saxon's group was dealing with Roisin, the clergy people and Uskaine got ahold of a cart to transport the animals back to the compound, with the latter offering to pull the cart.

Odrus and two of the soldiers carried the buckets to the cart and loaded them up, Neflen making sure they won't spill when on the move.

"Askad, are you guys ok," he asked the naga, who was sitting in the cart with Sofia, he nodded and Neflen hopped onto the driver's seat.

"Should we wait for Saxon's group or head back now," Odrus asked Royal.

N:   "We should head back," Royal nodded, looking around to check if everyone was out, noticing a man on horseback ride past but ignored it, "they would have known by now that they were in the wrong church. Wait, where is Heinrich?"

"He wanted to see if there was anything left of Chrysalis in the church," Erna answered, then she called out, "Heinz, hurry up."

"I am hurrying," the other called back as he emerged through the door, carrying a bunch of diaries, "he wrote of everything he did, so we might as well bring it." As he walked, he dropped a book and didn't notice until he was at the cart. Putting the books into the cart, he jogged back for the other book.

Right when he bent down to reach the book, he heard a quiet sizzling sound from inside the church, and his eyes widened when he realized what it was, but it was too late.

The church went up in flames, and the explosion from the gunpowder sent a shockwave that knocked down everyone near it.  Heinrich was sent flying and slammed against a nearby tree, his entire left arm and face covered in burn marks and pieces of stone from the building embedded in his leg, and the impact against the tree instantly knocked him out, and the back of his head began to bleed.

The rest of the British weren't safe from the explosion either, they were either on the floor from the shockwave, or chunks from the church knocked them down. Royal's head was on the verge of exploding from the sound, yet she was able to protect Erna from any of the debris.

M:   Everyone was caught off guard by the explosion, Uskaine and Askad both transformed into their animal forms in shock, Neflen fell off of the cart and nearly got trampled by Uskaine, and Odrus was walking to help Heinrich so was too sent flying. The cart was far enough away that none of the animals were hurt, just scared to death.

When Neflen reoriented himself he rushed for Heinz and Odrus, panicking slightly, and tried to heal them, though he wasn't as powerful as Odrus so he couldn't do it. He didn't have to, however, because when the explosion went off it caught the attention of the wolf, her blue eyes flickering as she witnessed the injured people.

Drawing up her strength, the wolf hopped out of the cart and limped to each and every injured being, and licked them. With her licks, the wounds were healed, not completely since she was weakened, just enough for them to become minor injuries. Heinz was the hardest to heal since he was the most injured, but she did what she could and lay down next to him, going to sleep afterward.

N:   Erna rushed over to Heinrich the moment she could and rested her hand on his cheek. Although Ora did partially heal him, there were still pieces stuck in his leg and there were remnants of the burns left. She quickly called for a med kit, which the soldiers always carried, and used a bandage to wrap around his leg after removing the stone and around his head.

"Let's go home, Hass," she muttered as she gently lifted him up, and she looked down at the sleeping she-wolf, "danke."

While she carried her friend back to the cart, Royal had some of the soldiers carry Ora back into the cart and have her lie next to Heinz, while the rest were trying to recover and calm down the animals. "Let's head back to the castle," the hybrid shouted, the explosion made it harder for her to hear, but it would go back to normal in a couple of minutes, "we don't know if they will come back."

As quickly as possible, they headed back to the compound, and along the way, they met up with Saxon's group, who explained what happened in the other church. Once they arrived, the soldiers began to take the injured into the infirmary while the rest carefully unloaded the cart of animals, including Lady Ora.

M:   "Let's take the animals to the infirmary too," Neflen suggested, still holding his head from the fall, "it's isolated, quiet, and we can treat whatever injuries they have."

With that said, everyone was brought inside to be treated, the terrestrial animals were given soft beds to rest in and Uskaine summoned a tank for the fish so they didn't have to stay in cramped buckets.

Odrus was awake and helping treat everyone, refusing to be treated until everyone else was ok. Askad stayed very close to Sofia, who was crying in pain as the humans tried to take care of her, her father doing his best to comfort her.

"So the Irish insurgent was here all along," Uskaine said, talking to Saxon, "why did you let her go so easily, sure she didn't do anything directly but she was still in association with Chrysalis, she could have been helping him plot our destruction."

N:   "Only if it were so easy," Saxon grumbled, "you're asking me to act on an assumption that she may have led to your destruction. I don't know what your experience of insurgents is, but I have been in charge of them since the fifth century, and I can tell you that will only make it worse. These people don't trust easily, murder, and lie as easily as they breathe, but there is honor between us, and that honor has to be maintained." Not wanting to continue with the conversation, he walked away.

Meanwhile, near the infirmary, since Neflen kicked them out so that the room stayed quiet, Johann confronted Erna. "What do you mean the church exploded," he whisper-shouted, "couldn't you see the gunpowder?"

"It was hidden, so we didn't see it, if anything, we thought we were going to be attacked when we were in the basement."

Johann held his head and shook it, "I knew he shouldn't have gone. I knew it."

"Listen to me, Kress," Erna spoke calmly, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "this is not the first time that any of us got injured from a battle, and we have all healed from our injuries and collected our scars." The pair looked through the gap in the door, seeing Heinrich's sleeping body on one of the beds with a nurse taking care of him. "I promise he will get better, besides, doesn't this happen to Rowen?"

"It took some time to adjust, seeing Hezyka injured from battles," the Mandorian did admit, "but Heinz ... he's my best friend and I'm worried for him."

M:   "Everything will be fine Johann," Uskaine said, coming out to check on Erna to make sure she wasn't hurt, "his wounds are no longer life-threatening, in fact, I predict him to make a full recovery in two weeks at most, though the burn marks might scar over, either way, he'll be fine."

He invited the two in to see their friend, making them promise to stay quiet so they wouldn't startle the animals."

"Hey Erna, are you ok," Odrus asked when he saw them, "you were fairly close to the church, did you get hurt?"

"Says the man who's bleeding out from his forehead," Uskaine joked, wiping said blood out of the other's eye, "go get treated, everyone is going to be fine."

N:   "I'm fine," Erna reassured him, "I did get a few scratches and my head hasn't stopped ringing, but otherwise Royal took the brunt of whatever I was going to get. But you, Odrus, you need to rest." She patted a bed to entice him and then she smirked, "Of course, you can continue to help the others if you doubt the people who work here and have trained their whole lives to take care and heal people."

Johann shook his head but smiled as he went to sit on the chair beside Heinrich. "May I ask," he turned to them, and then pointed to Ora, "how the hell did Chrysalis catch her?"

M:   "Your guess is as good as ours," Neflen shrugged, "perhaps he summoned her and somehow prevented her from escaping her mortal form, but that would take an unimaginable amount of power, something no mortal man should have, not even an Eternal."

"It doesn't matter how it came to pass, all that matters is making sure everyone can heal from it," Odrus commented, then looked over to Askad and Sofia, "though for some, I don't think it will ever heal."

N:   Erna and Johann followed Ordus' gaze to the father and daughter, their faces saddening as they agreed with what he said. "Is there anything that any of us could do to help him? I would but I don't understand what it means to lose a child?"

"Or what Askad experienced with Chrysalis," Johann added, "but maybe we should let him have some time so that the both of them can heal a bit, at least mentally."

M:   "There is no healing from this," Askad said in response to Johann, "look at her, look at what he's done to my baby, how can you expect her to mentally heal from this."

When the nurses were finally done, Askad took Sofia and wrapped her up in the blanket again, gently rocking her until she was able to calm down, then brought her over to Johann.

"Put yourself in her place, Johann, she's missing almost half of her limbs and her right eye, can you honestly tell me that you could mentally heal from that?"

N:   Johann stood up as he looked down at Sofia and saw the single gray eye looking up at him. "Even if I were to be in her position, I don't think I will be able to fully understand what she went through, but it doesn't mean that I don't know how it feels to be messed up by some deranged person."

The Mandorian looked straight into Askad's eyes and he continued, "I don't think I'll be able to fully mentally heal from the three years of hell I spent in Prussia, and there is no doubt that Sofia had suffered much worse so I don't know if she would heal too, but seeing the people around us, I'm trying to be goddamn positive right now. I'm sorry if I've offended you, but I'm only wishing the best for her."

"Jo," Erna began as she placed her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off as he sat back down and turned away from them, now wanting to talk at the moment.

M:   Askad was silent for a second, then smiled softly, "Thank you for that, I guess I'm not very good at seeing the bright side of things."

Sofia watched Johann pouting, she gurgled happily and reached out for him, making Askad chuckle, "I think she likes you."

The naga brought his daughter a little closer and brought Johann's hand up to her. Sofia grabbed onto his hand and rubbed her head against it, purring quietly.

N:   Although he was still annoyed, he can't help but let a small smile grace his lips as he softly rubbed Sofia's head with the back of his fingers.

"Aww, don't start crying Johann," Erna joked.

"Shut up," he grumbled, but he continued to smile.

M:   Askad laughed, "There's nothing wrong with crying, Erna, especially when it's over something so wonderful."

Sofia reached out further for Johann like she wanted him to hold her, so Askad showed him how to hold her and carefully transferred her into his arms.

The blanket came undone a bit so her battered body was in full view, but she didn't notice, she was busy hugging Johann like a koala.

N:   Johann didn't notice either as he had his eyes closed while he hugged the child; however, when Erna saw Sofia her heart dropped. Although she did see her in the church, this is the first time she could clearly see her.

"Oh Gott (oh God)," she muttered, which caught Johann's attention. He soon realized what she was looking at, so the Mandorian wrapped the Eternal up with the blanket and gently squeezed her as he rubbed her head.

M:   Askad's face turned down when he heard Erna shout, "Yeah, you guys never heard what happened, did you? Chrysalis forced me to watch as he mutilated her, I thought she died considering he left her to rot in front of my cage for three days. She must have gone into stasis, I've never heard of a child being able to go into stasis, then again, a child shouldn't go through what she did."

Just then, Mandoria came in with Celtica and Scotland to check on everyone, unfortunately, when Sofia saw Scotland she screamed and jumped out of Johann's arms, limping underneath a bed to hide.

Askad immediately tried to comfort his daughter while Uskaine; who giving the animals water and was watching, facepalmed in realization.

"We didn't think about this, Scotland and Chrysalis look so similar to each other that Sofia is going to be scared of him."

N:   Scotland was visibly irritated by this, that because of Chrysalis' actions, Sofia will react to him the same way she would to the insurgent. "I'm guessing my voice doesn't help too," he added, seeing how Sofia went further under the bed.

"I mean, you both are Scots," Celtica pointed out, "for the time being, let's make sure she doesn't see you until she settles down, alright?"

"Sure," the Scotsman shrugged, walking away towards the door, "I might as well check on the three troublemakers and see their progress on the stairs," and soon he was gone.

Johann went on all fours as he tried to help Askad. "Hey Sofia," he spoke softly, "he's gone now, ok? It's safe to come out now."

M:   "Yeah, he won't hurt you, you're safe honey," Askad added, "Scotland isn't like Chrysalis, he wouldn't dream of hurting you, but he's gone so you can come out."

Sofia whimpered but slowly crawled over to the men and huddled up to her father. He pulled her out and hugged her tightly, hushing her and doing his best to calm her down, but she wouldn't stop crying no matter what he did.

Mandoria's parental instincts kicked in and he rushed out, coming back with a warm bottle of milk and gave it to the child.

"Whenever my sons were upset, a bottle always calmed them down, even when they got too old for bottles," Mandoria explained, gently petting her head as she drank.

"Thank you," Askad smiled, "I'm probably going to need all the help I can get now."