M:   The rest of the night went by smoothly, no runaways, no fights, in the morning Neflen was right where he was supposed to be, though he didn't look any less depressed.

Mandoria and Rowen weren't sure if they should go check on Johann, they weren't even sure why he wanted alone time. Eventually, Rowen decided he would bring his son breakfast and see if he wants to open up in privacy.

He got together Johann's favorite, felwen moltean from back home, he also couldn't resist getting some for himself. Carefully climbing up the stairs to the attic, he sighed when he saw Johann sleeping on the couch alone, so he set the trays on a nearby dresser and gently rubbed his son's shoulder.

"Wake up my Finzenda, I made you breakfast," he whispered, "is everything ok, you looked upset yesterday."

N:   Johann slowly opened his eyes to see Rowen, but he didn't comment on what he said as he sat up on the sofa. Grabbing his tray, he quietly thanked his father and he ate his breakfast, his usual mood gradually coming back the more he ate, but it wasn't enough.

After a couple of minutes of silence, the Mandorian couldn't stop thinking of a particular question, so he stopped eating and set down his utensils. "Hezyka," he spoke quietly, still looking at his plate, "am I a disgrace?"

M:   Rowen was eating right next to him but when he asked the question he nearly choked on his food.

"Johann, why would you even think that," he asked, genuinely surprised and concerned, "you are the bravest, toughest, most kind-hearted person I have ever met, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your father. Who on earth put such a ridiculous thought in your head, I'll show them a thing or two, mark my words."

N:   "It's just ... it's just what Neflen said to Josef," Johann mumbled, "and I know that I shouldn't have listened to what he said but ..."

He sighed as he put his tray back on the dresser and rested his elbows on his knees, and he stared at the floor as he continued. "But I ran away, and I left everyone behind in Saxony and I was able to start a new life, a good one, while I abandoned them there, and they thought that I was dead. I didn't think about helping them, while I lived in safety with you; I didn't think of contacting them when I might have; I didn't know if they were alive or not. At least Josef died for someone he wanted to protect; I just got lucky and ran."

M:   Rowen's face turned from concerned to frustrated, he took ahold of Johann's face and forced him to look him in the eyes.

"Now you listen to me young man, don't you ever take that crap to heart," he said firmly, though there was no sound of anger in his voice, "Neflen was sleep deprived, desperate, and not in his right mind, he never meant what he said, and even if he did it does not apply to you. You were just a twelve-year-old boy with absolutely no knowledge of fighting or warfare back then, even if you stuck around you would have a very slim chance of surviving those trials, you saw how many graves there were of families that failed."

He pulled his son into a hug as tears started to fall down his face, "You did the smartest thing by running away, sure some families survived the initial attack, but who knows how many perished before Prussia decided to spare anyone. You calling yourself a coward hurts me more than anything Prussia did, you are far from a coward or a disgrace, and I don't want to ever hear you say that about yourself again, understand?"

N:   Johann just sat there, listening to what Rowen was saying, and he was surprised that the other was crying, so he hugged his father back and nodded. "I understand," he assured his father, and they just sat there, surrounded by each other's embrace.

Eventually, Johann let go and said, "I might take Comet out for a ride; get some fresh air, and don't worry about me" before standing up and volunteering to take their trays back to the kitchen. While they walked, he became very aware that he was still in his pajamas, so he quickly rushed to his room to change after he returned the trays.

As he went out to the stables, he came across Wolfgang, who was still annoyed by last night's events. "Hey, Wolfe," he called out, "Mal sehen, was die Städte zu bieten haben (let's see what the towns have to offer)."

"Es gibt vermutlich nichts (There is probably nothing)," the Saxon replied, "besides I have to see if Heinrich is awake-"

"And what," Johann interrupted, holding to the other's arm, "you will tell him what happened? Nein, leave that to Erna, you will make it worse, besides," the Mandorian flashed a smile, "are you too afraid to mount a horse when I'm around?"

The Saxon grumbled as he pulled his arm free, and not wanting to give the Mandorian any form of satisfaction, he gave in and agreed to join him. "English towns, here we come," he muttered, "don't be boring," causing the both of them to laugh as they went to get their respective horses."

M:   Odrus was actually in the stables as well, he was bored in the infirmary and wanted to come to hang out with the animals, he was petting a pure white thoroughbred mare when he heard the two come in.

"Hey you guys, good to see you," he said cheerfully, "I was a little worried that Wolfe was taking up Neflen's offer."

He realized too late that he probably shouldn't be talking about that so quickly apologized before asking, "So where are you troublemakers heading, off to prank someone?"

N:   Wolfgang frowned when Odrus mentioned Neflen, but he pushed it aside as he answered, "Do I look like someone who would prank someone?"

"Ja," Johann answered, and he narrowly dodged a punch to the face, "come on, how wouldn't you when you are with me?"

"I refuse to associate with this man," Wolfgang grumbled as the Mandorian laughed, walking away to get Comet ready, "we're going to check out the towns, see if there is anything fun to do instead of wandering aimlessly in this damn castle."

The Saxon walked over to his horse, which wasn't too far from Odrus, and petted him with a smile. "Wie geht es dir (how are you), Blackjack," he spoke, stroking the stallion's mane. The horse responded by turning to the horse next door, Midnight, and snorted at her, which the mare only nickered in response. "It seems like the two of you are still annoying each other," the young man chuckled.

M:   Odrus laughed, "Those ever-popular love-hate relationships; the humans love each other but their horses hate each other."

Odrus stroked the white mare some more then said, "You know what, I think I might join you. I've only ever seen the nearby town twice, once as a magpie and the other rescuing Sofia, I wouldn't mind seeing it in depth, if that's ok with you guys."

N:   "I don't mind," Wolfgang shrugged as he got Blackjack ready, "I think I'll go crazy if I have to stand Johann for more than an hour on my own."

"I heard that," Johann called from down the stables, making the Saxon shake his head with disappointment.

"Anyway," he continued, turning to Odrus, "how are you going to get there? Are you going to walk, or fly," he eyed the horse the Eternal was petting, "or is that mare yours?"

M:   "No, she's not mine, but I might borrow her," Odrus explained, "she's quite the beauty, her name is Belle too and the stablehands said that's French for beautiful."

He led the horse out of her stall and got her saddled up, "Blackjack is an interesting choice of a name, back in the days of the empire there was an old legend of a royal guard who was nicknamed Blackjack because of the black armor he would always wear. The story goes that he was bribed by an enemy king to assassinate his own ruler, he accepted the bribe and nearly succeeded if it weren't for the king's pet wampus cat attacking him. In the end, Blackjack was executed for betrayal to the crown, and from then on traitors of any kind were called Blackjacks."

N:   "Huh, interesting," Wolfgang smirked as he finished with Blackjack and led him towards Odrus, "well, I would gladly be called a traitor against Prussia, and I don't think he minds, don't you Blackjack," to which the said horse only nickered, "I think he doesn't care either way. But," he gave the Eternal a pointed look, "you better not have jinxed us."

"Who is jinxing us," Johann asked as he came with a saddled-up Comet, and when Wolfgang explained, he shrugged, "It wouldn't be the first time you've betrayed a king."

Wolfgang only rolled his eyes as they waited for Odrus, and when he was finished, they mounted their respective horses and set out to the town.

M:   "Wait, what was the first time," Odrus chuckled nervously, "should I warn British Empire to watch his back or something?"

As they entered the town and trotted around Odrus was fascinated with all the similarities and differences it had with towns of his time.

"I guess you guys haven't discovered electricity quite yet, he said, noting the hand-lit street lamps, "we had it but preferred to stick to the traditional ways, mostly using it to light up buildings and keep them warm without a fireplace, would you say your evolution is pre or post-Industrial Age?"

N:   "Industrial Age," Johann questioned, "what the hell is an Industrial Age?"

"So I'm guessing that we are in the pre-Industrial Age then," Wolfgang replied, "and it's kind of weird that you already know the progression of humanity, but that's probably a given from how old you are."

"What's electricity," the Mandorian muttered to himself, still wrapping his head around what Odrus said, "is it a name of a city? Electri City?

M:   Odrus laughed at their obviousness, "Oh boy, we really have set humans back eons. Electricity is basically what lightning is, but you can harness weaker amounts of it to power things, I think British Empire has a generator in his workshop if Rowen is to be believed. The Industrial Age is a time period of mass production, it's basically like if you take a shop that makes cart wheels, and instead of making one every two hours, they make fifty every twenty minutes. It's very complicated for people who have no idea, I'll probably explain it more some other time. The point is that humans used to be very advanced, but after the fall of the empire they had to start their evolution all over again, it will probably take another 100 million years to get back to where you left off."

N:   Johann and Wolfgang were amazed by what Odrus said, as if he was talking about a whole different world, which in some sense he was.

"Humans harnessing lightning," Wolfgang muttered then he smiled, "I bet Prometheus wasn't happy that we could control nature to our advantage."

"So, in theory," Johann suggested, "in this Industrial Age, there will be way more food since it could be made quicker, so people won't go hungry, right?"

M:   "Uh ..." Odrus hesitated, recalling the destructive and unfair systems of the old humans. He fully expected these humans to follow their ancestors' path but he didn't want to say that in front of the boys, so he put on an awkward smile and said, "... sure, let's go with that."

Wanting to quickly change the subject before questions were asked, he cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, speaking of food, I'm actually quite hungry as I haven't had breakfast yet, I wonder if there's a tavern that does pancakes?"

N:   Wolfgang agreed since he didn't eat breakfast either, so Johann shook his head, "Well let's get you guys some breakfast." With that, they kept on exploring until they found a nice tavern that provided pancakes.

Once they dismounted and made sure that their horses were kept at the nearby stables, they entered and immediately could sense the warm atmosphere. There were circular tables scattered around the place, with softer seats along the sides of the tavern as wooden beams supporting the upper floor. In the corner were tables that were semi-closed off from the rest of the room, but the seats were cushioned and the place was cozy, so Johann immediately went there and indicated for the others to follow.

Soon a waiter came over from the bar, a smile on his face until he stood at their table. "Welcome to the Unicorn, I'm Callum, what would you like to order?"

"Pancakes for these two," Johann spoke, "and a glass of water for me."

"And a beer for me," Wolfgang added, and when Johann gave him a sideways look, he said, "It's never too early," which got a look of disappointment from the Mandorian.

"Wait, I recognize you," Callum spoke, and he turned in the direction of the bar, "Brother, are these those people you said are in the castle?"

There said person came over to check, and Johann recognized the person as Wyatt, and he nodded, "Yep, those two," pointing to Johann and Wolfgang, "came from the mainland, but I don't recognize the other one."

"Maybe because you haven't been checking up lately," the young man rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault," the other defended himself, "Prometheus said that he was fine since he knew I had to take care of Mother, and recently some of the servants said that he wasn't available so I stayed here instead."

Callum shrugged as he turned back to his customers, "Well, welcome to Great Britain, I hope that you enjoy your time here and what it has to offer." With that, the two brothers walked away to prepare the food.

M:   "Those two seem nice," Odrus commented, "it's good to see siblings getting along with each other, can't say the same about me and my sisters."

The eternal took a moment to take in the atmosphere of the tavern, to smell the delicious food and listen to the calm chatter of other people, "now this brings back good memories, I used to run a tavern, The Rising Phoenix it was called, the best there was in my town."

He saw something flickering out of the corner of his eyes, but when he turned to look he instantly looked away, "it would be nice if I could spend one breakfast without seeing the beheaded spirit of someone though," he whispered, looking a little green.

N:   Wolfgang and Johann didn't comment on what Odrus said as they patiently waited for the breakfast to arrive, and when it did, they were able to able to smell its sweet scent before it was even served. Callum arrived with a pile of pancakes in each hand and placed them in front of Wolfgang and Odrus. Trailing behind him was a young girl, closely resembling the young man, and in her hands was a tray with bowls of different berries and a selection of syrups, as well as the requested drinks.

"Thank you, Maisie," Callum smiled as he took the tray from her, and as soon she did she awkwardly stood there before rushing back to the kitchen, causing the brother to chuckle. "She just gets nervous around new people," he explained as he placed the tray, "well I hope you enjoy, and if you need anything just call us."

M:   Odrus smiled and thanked Callum, tucking into his food despite partially losing his appetite.

At one point Odrus heard whispering from the table next to them that was about his eyes, he turned to the two men there but they didn't stop. One guy made a stupid face at the eternal while the other laughed, much to Odrus's confusion.

"What are they doing," he asked Johann and Wolfgang, "are they making fun of my vision?"

N:   "Have they never seen a blind person before," Johann shook his head, sipping on his water, "Just ignore them."

The two men continued to mock Odrus, and eventually, Wolfgang had enough so he stood up, ignoring Johann's pleas to not, and went to confront them. "Is there a problem," he asked firmly.

"Is there," one of the men replied, turning to the other as he pretended to be clueless, "there ain't, mate, although I will like to ask who that countryhuman is, can he even see us?"

"Or hear us," the other man added, to which they laughed.

The Saxon, insulted by the two men, grabbed the first one by the scruff and hissed, "You leave him alone, you hear me? Go and do whatever you stupid Englishmen do so no one deals with your shit."

The man stood up in response, causing the room to go silent, as he smirked, "And what are you going to do, boy, slap me on my hand for my bad behavior." The two stared at each other, the tension building until Wyatt stepped in between them, still wearing his apron covered with flour.

"Now, now," he smiled weakly, "we can solve this as gentlemen here. If you are unhappy with the other's company, then I will kindly ask you to leave and do your business outside."

"We don't want a fight do we," Callum called over from the bar, cleaning a glass, "and Mr. Grayson, how is your nose doing?"

The man staring off Wolfgang turned to Callum, and after a minute he grumbled in annoyance before the both of them walked to the door, which was held open by Maisie. The young girl just waved goodbye as they left and promptly closed the door, and the people began to return to their conversations, although there were some whispering about what happened.

As Wolfgang sat back down, Wyatt sighed, "I admire that you want to defend your friend, but you don't need to fight the battle of others, and preferably not in here."

M:   "He's right, from my experience, those two are going to be waiting for us with a posse," Odrus said, "thanks though, I appreciate you defending me."

They eventually went back to eating, though Odrus was now self-conscious about the whispering coming from the other tables. It got uncomfortable to the point that he took one of the cloth napkins and tied it around his eyes, only then did the whispering die down which made him sigh sadly.

"What do people have against my eyes," he asked, "what about them is so disconcerting?"

N:   "I don't think they have something against your eyes," Wolfgang suggested, "maybe they are just curious, but they are terrible at covering their curiosity." He had finished eating and was drinking from his beer, and he looked at the Eternal's half-finished plate, "I can speak on behalf of every kid from Saxony that we all stared at Saxon when we saw him the first time for one reason only: his black sclerae. We haven't heard of any other countryhuman to have those eyes, so we unapologetically stared at him, so he began to wear his eyepatch around us as he grew self-conscious. Maybe it's the same with you," he looked up to Odrus, "they probably have never seen a countryhuman or eternal who was blind."

Johann just glanced at Odrus, and although he was half paying attention to Wolfgang, he blurted out, "Can you see from under there," getting a facepalm from the Saxon.

M:   That joke cracked up Odrus and he couldn't help but laugh, simply putting a finger to his mouth and shushing him through his giggles.

Eventually, he finished his breakfast and when Wyatt came over to grab their plates he said, "You know, I used to run a tavern a long time ago, maybe if you have any job openings you could let me know, if that's alright."

N:   "I will double-check with Callum, but if you have the right experience," Wyatt spoke, "we don't mind the extra help, and it could free up time to take care of our mother."

Once he had taken away the plates and was sure they were finished, he called his sister to go to their table. Cautiously, Maisie walked up to them, and although she was anxious, she wanted to make her brothers proud by working well. "If you are done," she spoke boldly, although her voice did waiver a bit, "your order would cost a total of five pounds, two crowns, and two shillings, sirs."

Wolfgang nodded and reached into his pouch, and when he had collected the coins he wanted, he handed the coins to her. When she looked at the coins in her hand, her eyes widened. "You must be mistaken, sir," she said, "This is ten pounds, unless you don't have the change-"

"Keep the change," he smiled, "use it to help your family, and besides," he leaned forwards and whispered in her ear, "you did a great job opening the door for those men earlier."

Maisie's eyes lit up as she repeatedly thanked the Saxon before rushing to her brothers to tell them what happened, and when Wolfgang turned to Johann, his happy face turned into a frown when he saw the Mandorian's confused face.

"A couple of questions," Johann stated, "one, since when did you have British coins, and two, who were you just then because that was definitely not the Wolfe I remember?"

The Saxon rolled his eyes, "As the son of a landowner, I've learned how to handle money, something you clearly don't have a concept of," which got an indistinguishable mutter from Johann, "and I am not going to bother to answer the second question."

M:   Odrus chuckled at that, "You two really are cute together, I guess Erna wasn't messing with me after all."

The eternal went to untie the napkin from his face but hesitated, maybe it would be better to conceal his eyes, but he didn't have anything on him to do that and he wasn't about to use magic in a room full of humans.

"Hey, you guys don't happen to have any pieces of cloth do you," he asked, "I'm starting to think that maybe it would be best to keep my eyes hidden."

N:   The both of them check their pockets and they shook their heads, so Johann decided to go and ask any of the siblings working at the tavern for a piece of cloth.

It didn't take him long and he was soon back at the table with a cloth in hand and handed it over to Odrus. "Wolfgang, do you have a spare pound," the Mandorian asked, "since Callum said that that's the cost of the cloth."

"Wait, what," the Saxon answered in surprise, "just for a cloth, did you ask-"

"I'm joking, Mr. Rich," the Mandorian laughed while the other frowned, "no need to fret, this cloth is completely free."

M:   Odrus laughed again, those two never stopped being hilarious, he took off the napkin and tied the cloth around his eyes instead, humming in satisfaction that it was softer than the napkin.

"That feels much better," he smiled, "now hopefully no one will be so nosy. On that note, I do hope those two aren't waiting for us outside, especially so early in the morning."

N:   "We don't have to worry if they are," Johann smirked, "since we have a wonderful bodyguard here who can help us."

"Johann Kress," Wolfgang spoke as he held his friend's shoulders, "could you, for one minute, just shut the hell up."

"Nein," the Mandorian grinned and walked off to the door, which then the Saxon groaned with annoyance before following after him with Odrus.

Once they were outside, Johann scanned the area and shrugged, "Looks like they're not here."

"But we are not sure if they are still lurking around," the Saxon pointed out, "so let's avoid any alleyways and get to our horses."

M:   Odrus nodded and followed after the two, being careful to stick close to them so he didn't get snatched out of nowhere. They got to the horses without incident and the eternal was happy to be with Belle again.

"Hey there girl, did you miss me," he asked, planting soft kisses on the equine's nose, "I brought you a little snack."

He reached into his pocket and took out some sugar cubes he snatched from the table, offering them to Belle and chuckling as she happily munched on them.

N:   Wolfgang smiled as he saw Odrus feeding Belle, and while he was petting Blackjack, the horse noticed what the Eternal was doing and nudged the Saxon. "Es tut mir Leid, Blackjack," he apologized, "the next time I can, I'll get you some, ok?"

Once they had mounted their horses, Johann asked, "So, we're ready to go?"

M:   "Yep, I'm all set," Odrus said, he took one more look to make sure he couldn't see the two men's spirits and followed behind Johann.

Luckily there was no ambush along the way back to the compound and they put away their horses in peace. Unfortunately, that peace was interrupted by Rowen marching over.

"There you guys are, I've been looking everywhere for you," he barked, then pointed sternly to Wolfgang, "you need to go to Neflen and tell him you don't want him punished, he left the infirmary half an hour ago and was found in the armory with tons of self-inflicted wounds. He said he was paying retribution for what he did to Josef and Erna can't get through to him, so get your ass to the infirmary and make him snap out of it."

N:   It took a minute for Wolfgang to process what Rowen said, and when Johann asked him what he was doing, he finally spoke. "So you're telling me to go and tell Neflen that I don't want him punished," he stated, "despite what I did last night, and that I still hate what he did. How on earth would he believe me?"

"This is bigger than you," Johann answered, "you need to help him, and ja, you did hurt him, but tell him what Hezyka just said. You would want that if this happened to a friend, would you?"

Wolfgang sighed, "nein, I won't, it's just," he hesitated, "don't blame me if I can't get to him." With that, they made their way toward the infirmary.

M:   Odrus followed after, concerned that Neflen was taking things so far, he felt that Wolfgang would only make things worse at this point, he didn't speak up though, and just wanted to see his friend.

In the infirmary, all the eternals including Mandoria were standing or sitting around while Erna was trying to talk to Neflen. He was strapped down to the bed so he couldn't leave or hurt himself more, and most of his body was covered in bandages with blood stained through them, a nurse was busy wrapping his throat when the others came in.

"There you guys are," Mandoria acknowledged, "he's basically lost it at this point, he keeps saying that he hasn't been punished enough to just about everything we've told him. We're running out of ideas here."

N:   Wolfgang only quickly glanced at Neflen before looking away, and when Erna saw this, she walked up to him. "Weißt du, wie man das macht? (Do you know what to do)," she asked quietly.

The Saxon looked up to her, "Ich wusste nicht, was um mich herum geschah. (I don't know what to say)."

"So think," she whispered as she motioned him to Neflen.

The Saxon felt uncomfortable, being put into a position where he wasn't sure what to do, so he tried his best to look approachable, or at least not showing how he felt last night. "Neflen," he asked softly, "why do you feel that you haven't been punished enough?"

M:   Neflen, whose eyes were closed at that moment, opened them and started at Wolfgang, the colors faded but not shattered yet.

"I murdered someone, that is the ultimate crime one can commit against another," he said quietly, his voice raspy from whatever damage his throat received from himself, "when an eternal commits a crime, they are punished according to the severity of their crime. I took a life, so I must feel the pain I inflicted upon them, it doesn't matter how I feel it only that I receive it."

"Neflen, Josef is alive, you don't have to put yourself through all of this," Askad explained, "not to mention those rules died thousands of years ago, they don't apply anymore."

"It's not just the rules, it's the shame I feel for allowing this to happen," he said, "the more punishment I receive, the less likely this will happen again, simple as that."

N:   "It's not as simple as you think," Wolfgang countered, crossing his arms as he spoke, "ja, the more punishment you get, the likelihood of you committing the crime again decreases, that is true, but you are not dealing with the problem. Think of it this way: when I was a knight for Prussia, he would remind us Saxons that for as long as we do as we were told, he won't have us and our parents killed. We feared for the punishment we may receive, but we would never truly be loyal to him."

He let out a sigh before he continued, "What I am trying to say is that we should focus on the solution to the problem which shouldn't worsen the problem. The problem you're facing is that you don't feel like you've been punished enough, and your reason for inflicting pain on yourself doesn't have a clear endpoint, not to mention that the rule is ancient. We care for you, Neflen, and some of us know what it feels to take a life, and we are telling you no longer have to punish yourself and now you need to heal."

M:   "You think I don't know what it feels to take a life, how do you think I lost my arm," Neflen grumbled, "I was the commander of my city's law enforcement, I've taken more lives over my millions of years of existence than any mortal ever will in theirs. The solution has already been found if Josef was brought back to life, so that means the punishment is all there is left."

"So when will this punishment end, after you lose another limb," Odrus frowned.

"Maybe, maybe not, it will only end after I pay my dues," Neflen sighed, "it could take weeks, months perhaps, but it must be done."

N: Wolfgang raised a brow before he shrugged, "ok, if you feel like you still need to be punished, then be punished."

"You cannot be serious," Erna spoke up, "Wolfe, you can't encourage him-" but she was interrupted when the Saxon raised his hand.

"See, Neflen, you're following the wrong rules," the Saxon stated, "you are using the laws of your empire, but it died a long ago, along with its laws. Although you live in England, you are not a citizen of this country as you are stateless; therefore, we now turn to Josef."

Wolfgang uncrossed his hands as he walked over to the Eternal's bed, placing his hands on the bed frame and leaning on it. "Josef Wallner falls under the jurisdiction of the court of the Austrian Empire, so you would go by their laws as you killed a citizen of the Austrian Empire. However, even then, in their eyes, Josef is dead and has been dead for years, and there are no laws when it comes to killing a dead body, since that is not a thing. Now the question is: who is now responsible for Josef?"

"Prometheus," Erna answered.

"Exactly," Wolfgang nodded, "and the last time I checked, he had already punished you, and it corresponds to your crime. If you had truly killed him, I'm pretty sure he would have killed you, but he knew that Josef wasn't truly dead, so he gave you the punishment suitable for your crime. So," he stared into the Eternal's eyes, "what you're doing to yourself doesn't correspond in the eyes of the law to the crime you have committed, isn't that right, Commander?"

M:   Neflen growled lowly at being referred by his former rank, he just grunted and turned away from Wolfgang, giving no further response.

"His silent treatment means he'll think about it," Uskaine explained, "hopefully he'll stop being so dramatic now but we should still keep him restrained for the time being, right Neflen."

Neflen again didn't answer, he closed his eyes and remained unresponsive. That was enough for the Mandorians and Uskaine to leave the room.

"A word of advice Wolfie, don't refer to Neflen by his former rank, he doesn't like to be reminded of that," Askad advised.

N:   Wolfgang shrugged as he pushed himself off the bed frame, finally taking in the room and the people around him, and that was when he noticed an empty bed. "Where is Heinz," the Saxon questioned, turning to Erna.

"He went to the library while we were trying to find Neflen," she answered, leading the young man out so they can make their way to their friend, "I told him what happened last night, and I guess he just needed time to process. It's a good thing he was asleep while everything happened."

Wolfgang nodded in agreement, he wouldn't want to know if Heinz saw what Esha's fox showed them, knowing his history.

The rest of the day was relatively peaceful, and while the residents of the compound went through their day, Julian was patching up Josef's injuries, lecturing the Austrian while he did. They decided to stay in a different part of the healing chamber, away from Prometheus, while they discussed.

"You should have just left him," Julian grumbled while he wrapped the last bandage over the other's leg, "he wanted to help her."

"I was just pointing out the facts," Josef defended himself, "and trying to tell him that everything was fine and he didn't have to lose sleep over Esha."

"And that is your excuse for fighting him and getting yourself killed," the other tutted, standing up as the Austrian rolled down his trouser leg, "and then you try to defend yourself in front of Earth, and you increased your punishment from a month to until the Yule ball, like an idiot." Josef was about to speak when he interrupted him, "I have lived long enough to know that, when you are desperate like how Neflen was, they are not in their right mind so you have to help them gently."

"Sure," Josef mumbled, getting onto his feet, "and then he calls me a disgrace after I told him how I died."

Julian was about to comment when suddenly he suddenly got a feeling, the feeling you get from a good night's rest, and he turned to Josef, and he could tell that he got the same feeling. They both guessed what had happened, so they rushed to the chamber which held Prometheus.

When they entered, they saw Prometheus stepping down from the crystal table, his staff in hand, and the burn mark on his neck was completely gone. The Celestial turned to the two Reborns and asked, "How long was I out?"

"Two and a half days, sire," Julian answered, "and Neflen was here about twenty hours ago."

The Celestial hummed as he walked towards them and right in between them, and when they asked where he was going, he called back, "I've got a promise to keep."