N:   Prometheus smiled but it also saddened him that he would have to go, having found great friends that he will always remember. "Thank you," he grinned, "I wouldn't think that my time here would result in such an outcome, but I am happy to have shared this journey with you." He cleared his throat as he continued, "Well, you all better return the outfits, I don't want them to get creases just as I leave, and," he turned to Anglo, "is it possible to call everyone to the dining hall in a couple of hours, just so that I can say my goodbyes once to everyone."

"I can have that arranged," Anglo nodded, and soon after they all returned their outfits. Once everyone was done and went their way, Anglo decided to check on Saxon, wondering what the entity has been doing the entire time.

The winged country made it to the entity's office, and when he was allowed in, he opened the door, he almost knocked down a pile of documents with the door. Looking up at the entity, he was busy scribbling down on a piece of paper, and on the wall was a large map of the world with red, yellow, and green pins pinned to a selection of kingdoms and nations around the world. On his desk was a smaller map of Europe, along with a bunch of letters scattered across it, and when Saxon looked up to see Anglo, he smiled before turning his attention back to the map.

"Did you get any news from anyone," the entity asked.

"And it's nice to see you too," Anglo rolled his eyes as he pulled out two letters from his satchel, observing the map, "have you been trying to find Mandoria's sons this entire time."

"That and taking over Chyrsalis' duties," Saxon answered as he skimmed through the letters, and placed them on the map, covering the Dutch Republic and Spain, "I can multitask but it does require my time. Anyways, so far we have heard news from DR, SE, PE and I've gotten insiders from France and the Kingdom of Denmark saying that the Mandorians are not there. Swiss Confederacy hasn't answered yet, but I doubt he will since he pledged neutrality and is too close to Prussia."

"You know SC," the Englishman shrugged, "he works in the background. Do you have an estimation of where they are?"

"All I can say is that I doubt they are in Western Europe, but we have to wait to be sure, and Wilfred will search from the East."

M:   Suddenly, a rustle of paper sounded from next to the door, Sofia had wandered away from Askad and was following Anglo's scent. She giggled and played around with the paper since she hadn't experienced it before, chewing on documents and crinkling up reports.

She picked up a paper that has pretty symbols and brought it over to Saxon as a gift, though it was drooled on and one corner was ripped off.

N:   Saxon weakly smiled as he took the paper, picking it up by the corner as he checked what it was. "Thank you, Sofia," the entity spoke, turning the paper around, "I am so happy that I keep copies of the documents, I don't think Wald would be particularly happy if he received a half-eaten plan."

Anglo chuckled as he knelt next to Sofia, "Well look at you having fun. Come on, let's head back to your father and see what he's doing, and then maybe," he bopped his finger on the center of her face, where a nose would be, "I can get you some paper and pencils and you can draw whatever you want." Looking over her wings, he wondered when she was going to learn to fly, but he shook the thought out of his head as he stood up and waved to the entity, "Wave goodbye to Saxon."

The entity chuckled as he shook his head, "Your parental side is showing," getting an eye roll from the country.

M:   Sofia didn't seem to want to go back to her dad, she made a sound reminiscent of a "no" and hopped away, climbing up the curtains on Saxon's window and leaped on top of a tall shelf with a few nick-nacks, knocking a few down by accident and laying down to mock the adults below her, simultaneously chewing on a snowglobe she found up there.

N:   The pair laughed as they looked up at Sofia, "it seemed like you will have a little spy watching you work," Anglo commented.

"A two-year-old Eternal watching the Head of Insurgents plan out ways to overthrow governments from a desk while chewing on a snow globe," the entity chuckled, "I don't know if that's a breach of security or just hilarious." He saw as Anglo got himself comfortable in a chair, "and I am assuming you will stay here too?"

"Ja, there is no way I am leaving you to take care of Sofia, besides," he glanced up at the child, "I'm growing attached to her. Don't worry, I won't spill your secrets; I might as well become an insurgent from what I have learned from you." He saw Saxon staring at him and he smirked, "Don't get any ideas, I won't become one of your lackeys."

The entity smiled as he sat down and resumed his work, occasionally glancing up at Sofia, checking up on her, and after a while, he even brought her a plate of cookies for her to munch on instead of the snow globe.

M:   Sofia was content to stay on the shelf and watch the adults work, even more so to have cookies to snack on. She stayed up there for a good while, Askad came in at one point to ask where his daughter was, but when he saw that she was happy and being watched over he left her in the couple's capable hands and went back to help the royal hunters.

A few hours later and Sofia was sleeping on the shelf, sprawled out like a house cat and softly purring as she breathed, every once in a while she would kick her leg or flick her tail from dreaming.

N:   Anglo decided that after a while he would fulfill Prometheus' wish, so he told Saxon to take care of Sofia for a bit while he gathered everyone else, telling them to head to the dining hall. Prometheus was able to spend time with the Saxons laughing along to their stories, so when Anglo told him it was time, he nodded solemnly and they followed the Englishman. When everyone had arrived, save Saxon and Sofia, Prometheus stood on one of the chairs and spoke.

"I will like to personally thank you all; for accommodation me this last year and for giving me a time I will never forget and I will cherish," his smile wavered, "but all good things must come to an end, and for your safety, you must forget who I am."

Before anyone could protest, he summoned his staff and tapped the ground, sending blue streaks through the ground and touching everyone in the castle who knew his secret, and to everyone who was touched their eyes turned clearly and glowed a bluish aura. However, only two people were unaffected, a calculated move he knew would bare risks, but it had to be done. While everyone else was in a trance, he walked forward toward Heinrich and Esha, seeing their confused faces.

"You two have to keep my secret," he told them then he turned to Esha, "You have my crystal which can call me when you are in need of an emergency, and it would be kind of useless if you didn't remember who I was and what I could do, and you," he faced the Saxon, "you have to make sure that Josef could go to FE to give the cure for the venom, and if you forgot me, by extension you would forget him, and seeing how much you have grown since meeting him, I can't take that away from you."

The Celestial sighed, "I trust that you two will keep my secret, but I would like to hear it from you if you would. Promise me that you would."

M:   Esha turned to the others staring sadly at them, "Why make them forget Prometheus, we're all your friends and we would keep your secret to the bitter end. All these friendships you've built, do you really want to throw them away or do you just not trust anyone despite what we've done for you, and you've done for us?"

Esha shook her head, "It's not right to remember the dearest friend I've had and see everyone else forget, it's not fair to anyone."

N:   "I know it doesn't feel right," Prometheus replied, "but it is a must. I have kept the existence of the Celestials a secret for as long as you Eternals have walked this planet, along with the humans, and I am the door to a whole different world which the beings of this planet should never see, and should have never seen."

He turned around, looking around the room as he sadly smiled, "It is not about trust, I have met many people in the thousands of millions of years of your existence, who all could keep my secret, but the problem is that I should have never allowed myself to enter into your narrative. I once made a mistake a long, long time ago, I got involved and changed the course of nature, tampering with things I shouldn't have and caused the death of many, including someone very close to me. What I do here, will start a domino effect which will grow into something uncontrollable, and the few times I haven't wiped people's memories, Helios threatened to kill all life, to give me a fresh start."

"So make me forget," Heinrich muttered, "I agree with Esha. It is not fair on my friends that I am the only one who knows that Josef is alive. I would rather be blissfully ignorant than to know, but," he turned to Esha, "I will only forget if Esha does. It wouldn't be fair on her if she was the only one to bare your secret."

Prometheus nodded, understanding the Saxon's point of view, and then faced Esha, "You need to understand that, despite how bad it sounds, this is greater than our friendship. I am deeply sorry that this had to happen, so, do you want to remember or not? It is your choice."

M: Esha gazed between them, the pressure was uncomfortable as she didn't know what to choose.

"I'll remember," she eventually sighed, "as unfair as it may seem, I do understand the reasoning behind it, and I want to be the one who remembers the man who saved my life."

She faced Heinrich, "You can choose to forget if that's what you want, I've held many burdens for millions of years, it's not going to kill me to hold another one. I can make sure Josef gets to FE."

N: "Nein, I meant it when I said that I won't forget if you won't," Heinrich frowned, "I don't care if you've lived millions of years with secrets, you didn't make friends to be alone again. Although I haven't lived as long as you have, carrying a secret that you alone know is a crappy feeling, so I will share the burden." He turned to Prometheus, "Besides, I know it's selfish, but Josef and I need each other's support, so I'll decide to remember too."

"So be it," the Celestial nodded as he went back to his original position, placing his staff firmly on the ground. In a grand voice, he ordered to those who were in the trance, "You are to forget of me and of who I am. If anyone were to mention my name, I am to be a simple tailor who worked here, a traveler who came and went in a year. To all the things I have done to help you, your minds are to fabricate reasons for them, whether it be the guardians who helped you or otherwise, but you are not to remember that I helped you. You are never to have known the existence of Celestials and of Reborns, and you are to live as if you've never met one, never thinking twice about me. Is that understood?"

Everyone in a trance nodded, so seeing that his work is done, he walked out of the room, smiling one last time before asking Heinrich, "Tell my farewells to Wyatt, will you," to which the Saxon nodded. Waving goodbye to the pair, he walked out of the room, and as soon as he left the castle, everyone snapped back into reality, their memories wiped.

M:   Everyone looked around confused, wondering why they were there and what happened, so Esha filled them in with a partial truth, "we were saying goodbye to Prometheus, he felt it was time for him to move on and he might not come back."

"Oh, I remember that now," Rowen declared, "I'm going to miss him, hopefully, he finds a place that he decides to stay."

The others nodded in agreement, and still a little dazed, filed out one by one until only Esha and Heinrich were left.

"Heinz, I want to thank you for remembering with me," she said, "I know I said I could handle it, but it does take its toll after a while, so thank you."

N:   "Ohne Ursache (no worries)," Heinrich shrugged, "you're my friend and I only want the best for you, and speaking as your friend, we better head back to the infirmary. It might as well be our second home."

M:   Esha chuckled, "Yep, might as well be, at least this time we get to hang out with animals."

The two finally left and went back to the infirmary, both Neflen and Odrus were there taking care of the animals, who all looked much better than they did before.

"Hey guys, how are the new arrivals," the female eternal asked.

"They're doing well, everyone is slowly gaining weight and are much more energetic than before," Odrus smiled.

"Except for one," Neflen sighed, "Lady Ora seems to be getting weaker as the days progress, it's to be expected of a deity trapped in the mortal world, but we still don't know how to help her."

N:   "It might be a stretch, but have you tried to communicate to other guardians of the afterlife," Heinrich suggested, "I don't know anything about how the Mandorian religion works, but Johann told me that there was another, Empyr. Maybe he could help Lady Ora."

M:  "Maybe, they are both the guardians of the afterlife," Esha shrugged, "but if Lord Empyr was going to help her he would have by now, which adds more questions, like why hasn't he come to Ora's aid, or what's stopping him. The gods' will is unpredictable, there is no way of telling what they have in mind."

As the eternals thought about it, Odrus remembered something, "Hey Heinrich, before the church exploded you were carrying out a bunch of books, what happened to them, they could possibly hold the answers we're looking for."

N:   "Maybe," Heinrich replied as he went over to the corner of the room to check through a crate which carried the stuff from the church, picking up the stack of books with his non-injured hand and another half-burnt one in the other.

He handed them over to Odrus, "I quickly skimmed through them in the church so I don't remember what's in them, but what I do know it's that they are Chrysalis's." He handed over the burnt one to Neflen, "this was the one closest to the church before it exploded, that's why it's in the state it's in."

After a moment, he realized something, "wait, Odrus, would you be able to read those?"

M:   Odrus took one of the books and skimmed through it running his hand over the pages, then shook his head, "No, I can't read Scottish, I can feel the difference between ink and paper so I can read books that aren't in brail. Eshie, you spent time in Scotland, can you read it?"

"That was centuries ago, if I did know I would have forgotten it by now," Esha shrugged, "we could grab Celtica or Scotland to translate for us."

"Or I could cast a translation spell on the books," Neflen suggested. He snapped his fingers and the books flashed a bright light for a split second, "there, that should do it."

Odrus felt his book again and smiled that it was in English this time. He helped Heinrich distribute the rest to everyone and they searched for anything that could help their problem.

Half an hour passed and there was still nothing, just a lot of diary entries, reports to Saxon, and random doodles, nothing mentioning Ora or how Chrysalis caught her.

Finally, Esha opened the half-burnt one and tried to gather what she could. It took a while to read past the ash, but she thought she saw something important.

"Well, the good news is I found the page that can help us," she said grimly, "the bad news is that half of it burned away." She handed it to Heinrich to see if he could make anything out.

N:   The Saxon carefully held the book in his hands, worried that it might break apart, and tried to figure out the page. There was a star in the middle, which he only assumed was to represent Ora, and illegible scribbles around it. There seemed to be paragraphs that, although half of it was not there, seemed to be like some sort of chant. As he scanned further, there was a small symbol of two axes crossing over each other, but he ignored it for the moment.

"I think Chrysalis may have summoned her," Heinrich guessed, "but why would he? Tell me, what can Lady Ora do?"

M:  "She is a spirit of the afterlife and the goddess of healing and travelers," Neflen explained, "you already know how she can heal people by licking their wounds, but in her godly form she can exhale blue mist that can regrow limbs and instantly heal anything it touches."

"That is definitely something a greedy man would want," Esha agreed, "but that still doesn't explain how he kept her from leaving the living world, I don't know any seals that would be remotely strong enough to bind one of the most powerful goddesses."

Neflen looked over Heinrich's shoulder at the page, "wait a second, I know that symbol," he said while pointing at the double axes, "it's a sigil that represents slavery, in our culture, axes are often used by those who want to be above others, the same is said of a whip. Slavery was punishable by death in the days of the empire but people still practiced it, often branding their slaves with both their owner's flag as well as double axes or whips."

Neflen dug around in Ora's fur, who only whined in response, and found a small brand mark on her chest, a mark of crisscrossed axes.

N:   "What if she's bound to something, or to someone," Heinrich suggested, "maybe that mark is the seal that's making her a slave to someone, and that someone is the reason she can't leave. But who would it be?"

Just as he spoke, Royal walked in, "who did what?" When Heinrich quickly explained his idea, she hummed, "To be honest, I have literally no idea of this whole magical stuff, but that symbol reminds me of something, I just can't figure out where I've seen it."

"But is it possible," the Saxon asked, "to make that sort of bond?"

M:   "It's most likely Chrysalis if he's the one who summoned her," Esha pointed out, "it is possible but it's unknown how to do it since it's forbidden magic, I don't know how the hell Chrysalis figured it out but I do know that only he can break it."

"So one way or another, Chrysalis is the only one who can send Ora back to the Great Beyond," Odrus added.

N:   "So it seems that we are going back to the insurgent," Royal sighed, "let's see if he recovered from his time with Saxon, otherwise, if he hasn't healed enough, and refuses to speak, Chrysalis is too close to breaking." She was about to walk away when she added, "Both Esha and Heinrich are to stay here so you can heal, the rest of you can follow if you want."

M:   Odrus and Neflen nodded in agreement, though Esha huffed in indignation, "I'm not that fragile, I can go if I want."

She tried to prove her point by standing from her wheelchair, it was painful to watch as she struggled and groaned in pain.

"Esha you physically can't go," Neflen scolded, sitting her back down, "you'll only hurt yourself more, just stay here and heal."

"I'm not a weakling, Neflen," Esha growled, "I've survived dragon attacks and millions of years in the wild. I'm perfectly fine going to the dungeon and giving that cunt a piece of my mind."

N:   "But it is not every day that you were close to dying for almost three days when you ... when," Royal spoke but then she held her head as she tried to remember what happened to Esha, but she couldn't, "whatever, from what you experienced, you need to heal, but if you really want to join, you have to stay in your wheelchair. Have fun on the stairs," and with that, she walked off.

"You guys can go," Heinrich said as he went over to Ora and sat next to her, petting her fur, "I'll look after her."

M:   Esha growled again but Neflen patted her shoulder, "Eshie please, just sit this one out, you'll be there when we finally get rid of Chrysalis, but you need to bring up your strength for that, so please let this one go."

Esha growled one more time but finally relented, huffing in defeat and going back to her bed.

Odrus picked up the burnt book and he and Neflen followed after, "Let's grab Saxon too, Chrysalis really broke after what he did, we'll have more luck if he comes.

N:   Royal nodded, "that would be a good idea, and he could help us decipher that book too," so she went over to Saxon's office and asked him to join, to which he gladly accepted, leaving Sofia in Anglo's care.

As they made their way, the entity flicked through the book, shaking his head, "So you're telling me that Chrysalis might have summoned her, with magic I didn't know he had, and has somehow bound her to the living world, correct?"

"It's a working theory, but I have a question," she asked as they reached the dungeon doors, "I know it was in the time of your empire, but if Chyrsalis knew about the branding, and knew of some old magic to bind Ora, wouldn't he also brand his own flag too?"

Not aware that there was a brand, the entity searched for more answers in the book.

M:   "Yes he would, if he knew our customs," Odrus pointed out, "he must have learned magic from after he raided us, but I still don't know how he learned this specific spell. Either way, branding one's flag on someone identifies who their owner is, it's not a requirement for the spell to work so if he didn't it won't affect anything."

"I say we brand him with the double axes," Neflen grumbled, "see if he thinks it's funny now."

N:   "Double axes," Saxon asked, stopping in his tracks, and when Royal saw him, there was a slight hint of fear in his eyes, "as in crossed over."

"Yes," the hybrid answered cautiously, raising a brow, "do you know what it means? I feel like I've seen it somewhere." She showed him the page with the axes, seeing the entity if he would react.

The entity just stared at it for a while before closing the book. "It's fine," he muttered, speed-walking ahead, "it's probably a coincidence." The female Brit was skeptical about his answer but she didn't push further, walking after him toward Chrysalis.

The insurgent was covered from head to toe in bandages, his face half covered up with only his left eye and mouth showing, and although his movements were limited by his injuries, there were still shackles attached to his ankles. He was provided a chair to sit on, so when they arrived he was staring at the group, not bothering to look up.

"We meet again, Chrysalis," Royal sighed, sitting on a chair outside his cell, "let's just cut to the chase, huh? How did you capture the goddess Ora."

"That's a secret, dear," Chrysalis smirked, looking up at her, "one that your simple mind can't process. But that cave held so many secrets."

The hybrid rolled her eyes and persisted, "ok, fine, then how are you keeping her here? Is the brand some sort of seal?"

"You found the seal," the insurgent smiled, as if some child who is excited about something, "it's a nice little mark, isn't it Saxon?" He glanced at the entity, who only stare back, void of any emotion.

"So you are able to break the seal?"

"I am a loyal servant of the Head of Insurgents," the insurgent replied, turning to Saxon, "and it is in our agreement to not reveal the secrets of the entity."

M:   Odrus and Neflen were confused, what was he talking about, the brand was just the mark of slavery, wasn't it?

"What are you blabbering about," Neflen asked, "first of all you definitely aren't loyal from what Askad and Uskaine told us, and you're working with another insurgent, which apparently is against the rules."

"Second of all, the double axe is the mark of slavery," Odrus added, "it's a sigil that binds a slave to their master, what the hell does it have to do with Saxon?"

N:   "Oh, it is a mark of slavery," Chrysalis applauded, "but when I read that in your culture that you would also put a brand mark of the flag of the master, it was literally a two-in-one deal."

"So the master has a double axe on their flag," Royal asked in confusion, turning to Saxon, "do you know who he's talking about?"

"How is that possible," Saxon muttered, staring wide-eyed at the insurgent, "how is he able to bind Ora? How are you able to do it?" His expression soon turned into anger as he slammed against the bars, "what does he want? Is he here? ANSWER ME!"

Chrysalis only laughed at the entity, doubling over as he gasped, "As I said, I am a loyal servant."

Saxon turned to the guard and barked, "Open the damn door."

"Saxon, you need to calm down," Royal spoke, stepping in between the entity and the door to Chrysalis' cell, "tell me who it is," but she was roughly pushed aside by the entity. Worry written all over her face, she chased after him, trying to slow him down.

The entity simply picked the insurgent from his seat and slammed him against the wall, making sure that it hurt. "You better tell me everything or I'll turn your body inside out," he hissed, "now tell me, is he here?" Chrysalis only laughed right in his face, angering him even more, so he dropped him onto the floor and kicked his head like a football.

"Saxon," the Brit called out, but she stood back when he spun around, rage filled in his eyes, and before she could reach, she was shoved off to the side, her dagger taken away. Seeing she would need help, she called out to the Eternals, "Someone call Anglo. He needs to be here."

M:   Neflen ran out as fast as he could, only for a loud thump and two shouts sounded from down the hallway. There was a moment of muffled voices and soon Askad slithered in, holding his head to show that he and Neflen ran into each other, literally.

"I came when I heard you were interrogating Chrysalis," he grunted, a light bruise forming on his left eye, "what's going on?"

"Saxon's about to do something stupid," Odrus explained, "can you coil him up until Anglo gets here?"

"Why," the naga asked in confusion, "surely Chrysalis deserves what he's about to get."

"Just do it you idiot," Odrus shouted.

Askad flinched and argued no further, shifting to his snake form and wrapping around Saxon again, though not too tightly this time.

N:   "Let me go," Saxon yelled, his arms pinned to his side as he tried to wriggle his way free, "let me go and fucking murder him."

"But we need him alive, stupid," Royal snapped, standing between the entity and the insurgent, "if you kill him, we won't get any more answers."

"Doesn't it look like I care," the entity snapped back, trying to properly grip the dagger, "the moment he answers my question, he's dead meat."

"That is exactly why I'm not answering it," Chrysalis smirked, getting a wing slap from the hybrid.

"You better have an iron grip on him, Askad," she warned.

"I agree," Saxon replied through gritted teeth, finally being able to position his dagger and stabbing the Eternal.

M:   Askad hissed in pain and momentarily loosened his grip, enough for Saxon to reach out and slash Chrysalis right across his face.

Askad changed tactics and hung himself from the ceiling, dangling Saxon upside down and tightening his grip a little more so he was not only immobilized, but the blood rushing to his head would make him too dizzy to do anything.

"When Anglo gets here I'm going to strangle him," Askad grunted, trying not to slip off the bars on the ceiling, "he needs to keep his husband on a tighter leash."

N:   Soon Anglo ran into the dungeons, quickly followed by Neflen, and when the Englishman saw what was happening, he rushed into the cell and ordered Askad to let Saxon go. After much resistance, the Eternal finally did; and before the other could regain his footing, he pinned his arms down.

"What's happening, Saxon," he spoke softly, trying to distract the entity, "Relax and tell me."

"Nein," Saxon snapped as he shook the country off, temporarily making him off-balanced as he marched straight to Chrysalis. However, before he could reach him, the Englishman grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him away, pinning down his arms again.

"Saxon, listen to me," Anglo spoke as calmly as possible, his face close to the other's, "look at me and breathe, ok? Breathe." Saxon only stared angrily at the other, annoyed that he was in his way, so he placed the tip of the dagger on Anglo's thigh, and since he could feel it, the Englishman frowned. "I dare you," he growled, "go on then. Stab me to get your way but remember that I will not let you go," and seeing the other hesitate, he continued, "If you're so damn desperate, go ahead."

Saxon was conflicted, although he wanted to reach Chrysalis, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Anglo, so he sighed and let go of the dagger, resting his head on the other's shoulder. "Es tut mir Leid," he muttered quietly, to which the other loosened his hug and gently embraced him.

"Breathe," Anglo spoke in a hushed tone, "now tell me, what happened?"

"He's probably back?"

"Who?"

Chrysalis got onto his seat, covering his face to stop the bleeding, staring right at the entity, and grinned, "The Head of Insurgents is back."

Anglo only was further confused, so the hybrid filled him in, "We think that someone bound Ora branded her with a brand with two axes, then Chrysalis semi-confirmed that that is on the flag of the perpetrator."

It took a couple of seconds for it to click in Anglo's mind, and when he came to the realization, he muttered a small 'oh' before looking at Saxon's face, seeing how he was reacting to the news. "I think this is enough for today," Anglo announced, "you may continue with your interrogation tomorrow, but right now is not the time."

"Will you tell us who it is," the hybrid asked as she watched Anglo take Saxon away.

"I will once I have taken him to his room to rest. Meet me in the library in ten," and with that, he was gone.