N: BE sighed as he shrugged, "Fine, there's no harm in taking a break," as he followed Mandoria out of the dining hall.

As they walked, they heard some laughter outside, and when they peered out of the window, they watched as Johann and Wolfgang were in a snowball fight against Erna and Gwyn, and whenever they threw a ball, Alcis would try and catch it. Heinrich stood to the sides, acting as the referee. All of them were covered from head to toe, their coats and hats contrasting the white landscape.

The empire smiled, "Well, it seems like they're having fun, and the cadet has been warmly welcomed," he turned to face the Mandorian and joked, "I would ask you to join but I don't know if you could tolerate the cold."

M: Mandoria chuckled as he watched the children play, it reminded him so much of all three of his sons having snowball fights back home, hot chocolate and cuddles usually followed after.

"I can tolerate it quite well actually," he informed, "my wings are so large and fluffy that that I can regulate my body heat quite well."

He looked back to the group and noticed that Rowen and Maria were nearby with Sofia, who clearly had never seen snow before in her life, and loved it.

"I would join, only if the great British Empire would allow himself to play a little kids' game with me."

N: "Please," BE smirked, "I live in a household with both my parents and grandparents. I am still regarded as a child, so how could I possibly turn down such an invitation? Besides, good luck trying to beat me, Ireland was ruthless when it came to snowball fights, so you better watch out."

With that, they went to their respective rooms to find outerwear for the weather. BE was even able to drag Ireland out, who had stayed for the last couple of months, and once they were done, they met outside next to Rowen and Maria.

The Saxon was showing Sofia the wonders of snow, showing her how to make a mini snowman, and even got some pebbles for eyes and a carrot for a nose. "Look at you, Sofia," she cheered as she helped her form the first large snowball for the snowman, "you're doing great."

M: Sofia gurgled happily as she rolled the little snowball, despite being half reptile, the cold didn't slow her down in the slightest, she especially loved to eat the snowballs she would make.  Rowen helped lift her up to place the higher snowballs until the snowman was finally done.

Meanwhile, Mandoria was taking a moment to enjoy the crisp winter air, truthfully this was his favorite season, there was something about the snow that made him feel at peace.

That peace was eventually shattered as he formed his own snowball and threw it at his son's back to surprise him.

N: Johann jumped in surprise, turning around to see where the ball came from, and just as he realized it came from Mandoria, another snowball hit the side of his face.

"Remember: no aiming for the head," Heinrich spoke loudly, glancing over to Gwyn who had her hands over her mouth in shock.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I didn't mean to."

"But it was totally worth it," Erna laughed, high-fiving the Welsh to show her support.

However, the Mandorian was more focused on forming another ball and a mischievous grin on his face. "Bist du dabei? (Want to join)," he turned to Wolfgang, who quickly understood what he was going to do, and he smiled and nodded, so Johann turned to his father and threw a ball right at him.

"YOU HAVE DECLARED WAR, OLD MAN!"

M: Mandoria reacted quickly and shielded himself with his wings, returning fire as he paired up with BE. Rowen laughed as he watched the grown-up children play together, he decided to leave Sofia with Maria and grab everyone else, what better thing to do than have a good family snowball fight?

N: Once everyone heard what was happening, they all got ready and went outside into the snow, except the reptile-like countries who decided it was better to stay indoors, to which Anglo also decided to stay indoors too.

Once they were out, they formed into two groups, one side where most of the Saxons, including Ireland just so he could annoy his brother, were fighting the rest.

Chrysalis meanwhile was standing right at the door, leaning against it as he watched them play. He was in no way going to go and join them but thought it would be interesting to see what would happen.

M: Neflen was also standing by the door with Chrysalis, he never really enjoyed games that involved the cold, or throwing things. Odrus wasn't the only one who was giving the insurgent a chance, the longer he stayed the more comfortable the other eternals became around him, except for Askad for obvious reasons.

"You know we never really had winters back in the day," he said, trying to strike up a conversation, "I mean, at least in one half of the world, the half that the humans lived in did have changing seasons but our half just had biomes that stayed a permanent temperature and weather.  Does the rest of the world go through winters?"

N: Chrysalis quickly glanced at Neflen before turning back to the snowball fight. "Aye, we have winters," he answered, "but only if you're in the northern part of the world. I heard that places in the south would have summer around now, like in Australia. It's kind of weird and I don't get it, but the more you know."

He watched the group more before adding, "If you want to see a proper snowy winter, go up north to Edinburgh then go in fucking London. The city is better since it's quieter and smaller, and it snows for longer. Edinburgh is where I met- never mind." The insurgent turned to Neflen and asked, "What was your biome?"

M: Neflen raised a brow at Chrysalis's slip-up but decided to turn a deaf ear, he shrugged at the question, "I'm not completely sure, to be honest, I lived in a large city and was the commander of the police force, it never snowed though and it wasn't uncommon to experience droughts every couple of centuries, so probably a savanna or the very least a plains biome."

At that moment a rouge snowball came barreling towards Chrysalis's face, but Neflen quickly put up a shield to protect him."

"Sorry," Uskaine called up to them, "I was aiming for Wolfe but he's basically a groundhog."

N: "Yeah, sure," Chrysalis muttered as he walked back inside the compound, going to a nearby window so that another rouge snowball doesn't hit him.

Meanwhile, Wolfgang heard what Uskaine said and prepped a snowball. "You are in no place to call me that you overgrown horse," and lobbed the ball at the centaur.

While he did, Ireland went over to Johann and whispered something into his ear, to which the Mandorian smiled. Getting a snowball ready, he aimed and threw it right at BE's nuts, just as the Irishman suggested.

The empire winced as he dropped his snowball, dropping face first into the snow as he groaned in pain. "IRELAND," he shouted.

The Irishman did a mini celebration as he high-fived the Mandorian.

M: The others laughed at BE's dismay, Sofia took the opportunity to pounce on his back and try to play with him.  The snowball fight went on for quite a while, Esha and Askad even came out for a bit to have some fun.

Esha was able to fight off the cold in her dragon form since she was mostly covered in fur, Askad was quite sluggish so he just stayed with his daughter.

Neflen still wouldn't go outside so he decided to go get warm drinks prepared for everyone, "hey, I'm going to the dining hall to get everyone warm beverages, you want to come?"

N: "I have nothing else to do," Chrysalis shrugged as he went after the Eternal, gently tugging at his shock collar as it slightly dug into his skin.

Along the way, they met up with Wales, who had a warm mug of coffee in his hands, and when he asked about where they were going, he decided to tag along, much to the insurgent's annoyance.

M: Neflen chuckled at Chrysalis's annoyance, then frowned at him tugging his collar.

"I don't know why Esha picked that kind of collar, it's quite an outdated model and not really made for comfort, I'll ask her later to fix it up for you.  Better yet, we'll get you a bracelet version so it's less like your a slave and more like on training wheels."

When they arrived at the dining room they saw Sleipnir cuddled up with Edel, causing the eternal to smile.

"That's quite heartwarming, two enemy species coming together to start a family," Neflen said, "you know, I think it's great that we finally came out from underground, we've missed so much and it's about time we learned to coexist with the rest of the world."

N: "Welcome to Earth," Chrysalis grumbled as he walked right past the couple and went over to the corner where hot beverages could be made. There was a large flask with already boiled water, as well as some milk and a selection of tea and coffee, as well as some cocoa powder.

The insurgent turned around to the other two and snapped, "Stop gawking and come over here."

Wales frowned as he joined Chrysalis, "you didn't need to lash out."

"I've been in this collar since forever," the insurgent growled through gritted teeth, prepping a mug of coffee, "stuck in this place for months, seeing you Brits every day, and one step away from death." Once his coffee was done, he poured in some milk before stirring it, "I think my behavior is reasonable, pipsqueak." With that he took his mug and sat at the table, propping up his legs on the table as he took a sip from his drink.

"Aren't you going to help?"

"I was until you joined," he shrugged, "the both of you are more than enough to make everyone's drinks."

M: "Chrysalis, I don't know if you've been paying attention, but the only one who still wants you dead is Askad," Neflen grumbled, "after we've spent actual time around you we've come to respect you, especially after that poker game where you humiliated Scotland, now that was funny."

He went silent to prepare the drinks, not worried about them going cold since he predicted everyone to be coming in soon, he brought them over to the table and sat across from the insurgent, "I really am sorry about the collar though, Odrus said it was the only way BE would let you out of the dungeon, I promise I'll talk to Esha and we'll make it more comfortable for you."  He sipped his own coffee before chuckling to himself, "To think I befriended the man who killed my species, I have no idea how stuff like that happens, but I like it.  Now we just need to figure out how to keep Askad from murdering you."

N: Chrysalis smiled a bit when Neflen mentioned the poker game, but his smile quickly disappeared. "Aye, I could totally walk up to Askad and say 'Hey, sorry I tortured your only daughter in front of you and severely maimed her, make you believe she died this entire time when in reality I kept her has a cool trophy. Let's be friends'," he ranted then rolled his eyes, "that will totally work. Stop living a dream, Neflen, even I know you can't easily forgive someone for doing that."

He took a sip from his drink before placing it on the table, "besides, you seemed to forget that I actually haven't been trialed yet, so who knows what punishment I will get for the crimes I've done."

As soon as he finished speaking, Alcis ran into the room, leaving a trail of snow prints in his wake. "Alcis, come over here," Heinrich shouted as he ran into the room, to which the Great Dane proceeded to play a game of cat and mouse and ran around his owner, always just out of reach.

The rest of the group eventually came, and were grateful that they were welcomed by hot drinks, and they soon sat at the table as they absorbed the heat, discussing about the game. Johann was able to find something to lure Alcis, and once the dog was still, Heinrich got a towel and was able to clean the dog up.

M: When everyone came in and sat down with their drinks, Sofia cautiously wandered up to Chrysalis, causing Askad to tense up and watch them intently.  The child was still a little scared of the man who hurt her so much, but as he was allowed to wander around and she saw people being friendly with him, it reassured her a little.

She raised up her arms to show him a pretty rock she found while digging in the snow, offering it to him as a sort of peace treaty.

"Aww, she's giving you a gift," Esha cooed, "maybe she's saying she forgives you, kids are so innocent, aren't they."

N: "I think forgiveness is pushing it," Chrysalis muttered before looking over to Sofia and quickly glancing at Askad. He looked at her for a good minute before taking the rock from her hands.

The surface seemed to shine and its smooth texture meant that he could easily roll it over his knuckles. He hummed in approval, "Tapadh leibh, Sofia (thank you, Sofia)," he smirked before facing her, "you better go to your father before he turns into a statue."

M: Sofia giggled quietly and gave him a very quick hug, running back into her daddy's arms soon after.  Askad didn't know what to make of what just happened, but he ultimately relented and dipped his head in acceptance toward Chrysalis.

"See, progress," Neflen whispered to the insurgent, "so, how's it feeling to live in a dream then?"

N: "I hate the feeling," Chrysalis answered but he could help but smile for a moment before returning to his 'why am I still here' expression.

He scanned the room until his eyes met with Saxon's, and immediately he could sense that the entity was still angered by what he did, so he whispered back to Neflen, "Seems like I'm still on death's door," nodding at Saxon.

M: Neflen glanced over to Saxon and rolled his eyes, "You know very well how to fix that, you're just too stubborn to do it, for now though you could ask Esha to borrow her cobra to protect you, Saxon won't get within thirty feet of you with a snake around."

Neflen was talking about the snake that they rescued so many months ago, since it and the other animals had nowhere to go, Esha opted to keep them, since she was better at taking care of wild animals than anyone else.

"No, you can not," Esha interrupted, "Pharaoh is in hibernation right now, he's not to be disturbed till spring, though after what happened with Saxon and Shen, you can borrow him to protect you."

Everyone at the table broke into snickers, Mandoria then said, "The fear of snakes is forgivable, but who on earth is afraid of peacocks?"

N: "That fucking bird jumped at me, alright," Saxon defended, "it wasn't my fault I accidentally stepped on his tail feathers."

"It definitely was," Anglo chuckled, "you weren't paying attention to where you were going."

"I was in a rush, but forget that. Then he flares up his feathers and chases me down the corridor, kicking at me when he can. I'm telling you, that feather duster is a menace."

"You know what, let me have Shen," Chrysalis smiled, "he seems like the secret weapon against Saxon." The entity growled but eventually just ignored the insurgent.

"While we are on stuff you can provide me with, Esha," the insurgent turned to the Eternal, "could you provide me with a better restraint?" He tugged at his collar to demonstrate, "Neflen did promise to ask you, but I'm just asking you now so we can have it over and done with."

M: Esha hesitated, it wasn't because she didn't trust Chrysalis, which she didn't very much, it was because she felt bad that he was complaining about it now and she didn't know how long it's been uncomfortable.

"Of course, sorry that it's uncomfortable, if I knew I would have changed it sooner," she apologized, she snapped her fingers and the collar vanished,  a wristband appeared instead on his left arm but it was thinner and almost felt like it wasn't there.

"There you go, if it was up to me you wouldn't have that on this long, but Mr. Paranoid Bastard won't let you wander around if you didn't have it, right BE."

N: BE grumbled at the nickname before replying, "I absolutely agree, you are not going to walk around on the presumption that you're free, so that wristband of yours is a reminder of where you are."

"In a pig sty," Chrysalis grumbled, "and you act as if you haven't done anything criminal yourself, huh? You should be in this wristband, you should be the one in the dungeons, you good for fucking nothing Brit, you bloody hypocrite-ARGH," he yelled as the wristband sent a shock up his arm, forcing him to be quiet.

"This tiny thing packs quite the punch," the insurgent chuckled as he grabbed his mug and walked away. When BE asked him where he was going, the insurgent rolled his eyes, "If you're worried that I will step outside, you can shoot me, oh wait," he smiled as he quickly spun on his heels, "you can't."

Chrysalis laughed a bit before disappearing down the hallway. Even if he had thought about leaving, he was aware of Odrus' strict guidelines, so instead, he headed straight to the dungeons.

Odrus had asked BE if Chrysalis could stay in one of the rooms instead of in the dungeons, but the insurgent himself refused the suggestion. There was something about the calm solitude that the cell provided that the insurgent preferred, plus he didn't want to be a step closer to the Brits and the countless activities that were happening.

Chrysalis just went all the way to his prison cell, asked one of the guards to open it, and welcomed himself in. Sitting on his bed with his back leaning against the wall, he quietly finished his drink as he absorbed the quietness of the dungeons.

M: Esha smacked BE upside the head quite hard, "You fucking donkey, we can't get him to open up if you keep being such a prick."

"Is that why you are being nice to him," Rowen asked the Eternals, "just to get him to talk."

"Not entirely, no," Uskaine said, "after what Odrus told us about his past we've seen him in a new light, though he made us promise not to tell anyone else just yet."

N: "Alrighty," Royal spoke, "so you kind to him so he can reveal more information but at the same time because you know something about his past. Weird but makes sense."

The hybrid took a large gulp from her hot chocolate, her preferred beverage for snowy days, "I'm going to check if Wil has found them yet," before getting up from her seat.

"You've been checking every day for the last month," Wales pointed out.

"Better safe than sorry," the Brit shrugged before exiting the room and heading toward where all the messenger birds are kept.

M: Mandoria and Rowen watch her leave, the former sighed in sadness while the latter placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I thought we would have heard something by now," Mandoria murmured, "it's been months, what if they aren't even in Europe or Western Asia, we'd never be able to find them."

"Don't lose hope yet, we're so close, I can feel it," Rowen said, "it's only a matter of time, trust me."

Mandoria stared at him for a moment, then excused himself and followed after Royal.

"Hey Royal, could you do me a favor," he asked, plucking a feather and handing it to her, "could you give this to Wilfred, my sons may not believe I'm alive if he finds them so he should probably have some sort of proof."

N: Royal twirled the large feather in her fingers before answering, "I would but the problem is that I don't know where he is, and I can't exactly send a bird with no destination. Even then, if I do send a bird, I don't want to exactly advertise to a certain Prussian that you're here."

They made their way to one of the towers, and it was clear from the bottom of it that it was often used, and as they walked up to the top, they entered a large circular stone room with large windows, although it lacked glass so the messenger birds could enter and exit with ease.

The floor was completely covered in straw and along the walls were places where the birds can rest. "Be careful," Royal warned, "it gets pretty cold in here around this time of year."

When they were both on the second landing, one of many, she walked up to one of the workers there and asked if Wilfred had sent a message and if Anglo's eagle has returned.

"Neither are here, ma'am," the worker replied, much to the Brit's dismay, "I'll notify both you and Sir Anglo once they have arrived."

The hybrid nodded in thanks before turning to Mandoria, "I guess we got to wait but I promise that I will send this," she held up the feather, "to your sons."

M: Mandoria hummed, he took a moment to speak to the raptors, they would chirp back and tell him lots of things they've seen or heard.

"He's somewhere in Greece," he claimed, "apparently when BE sent the invitations, Harrison stopped in Greece for a break and saw him riding towards Athens."

Mandoria raised his arm and let the falcon climb on, "he didn't see anything else, but he heard some geese talking about a 'Giant black bird migrating here'."

The bird chirped some more and he explained, "he doesn't believe it's the big bird that BE keeps talking about, which I guess he means King Prussia, he said the geese claimed that he was rather injured and was being followed by a large winged cat.  I don't know what all that is about."

N: Royal hummed, "So if he is there, then we might as well send your feather there too so Wil can have it for when he meets your sons." She turned to Harrison and added, "Could you send this feather to Wil?"

After the falcon chirped a bit, she frowned, "Come on, you have rested enough, besides you're going to help Mandoria here." After a bit of convincing, and a promise to give him a whole sack of dead mice when he returns, the falcon finally hopped off the Mandorian and onto the window ledge.

Royal quickly wrote down a note before attaching both it and the feather to Harrison, and when she was finished, she gave the falcon the go-ahead and within minutes he was out of sight. "Ungrateful bird," she laughed then shook her head, "but a pretty good negotiator."

M: "Yeah, you'd think a migratory bird like him would want to go to a country that is usually quite warm," Mandoria said, "oh well, he'll get over it, let's go."

As they left, Mandoria again took a moment to enjoy the winter air, it was calming to him to feel the crisp bite of a frosty day.

"Say, would you like to go for a fly with me," he asked, "it's been a while since I've flown with company, though I understand if it's too cold for you."

N: "Too cold," Royal scoffed before she smiled, "I don't particularly enjoy the cold, but I have flown in the Highlands multiple times before, and trust me, that's cold."

She opened up her left wing, its navy blue feathers greatly contrasting with the snow, only the white tips of her primaries matching it.

"Before we fly, could I ask you a question," she asked, "how does it actually feel to be a winged countryhuman? Maybe it's just because of how I grew up, but a lot of the time I just feel like any ordinary countryhuman who just happens to have wings." She folded up her wings before staring at the landscape in front of her, "the first person to ever take care of me and my brother was this middle-aged woman, a human. She couldn't have any children but decided to take us in, and it was her who taught me to first fly, but it always seemed off until Anglo came along years after. But even then, my wings just feel like an extra limp since I always worked with her on the ground."

She paused for a moment before turning to Mandoria, "How does it feel?"

M: Mandoria stopped for a moment, thinking about how to answer the question, "Well, it depends on when you ask a country that question.  If you asked me that while we were in the sky, I would say it feels like freedom, where you're not bound to anything or anyone, but on the ground, it's ok but just not the same.  It hurts us to be stripped away of our ability to fly, it's like the one reason we live is stolen away, it's a fate worse than death to not be able to fly."

The wind picked up slightly and Mandoria partially unfurled his wings to catch it in his feathers, "although, I think this is a question that's better answered by showing you, come on."

He took off with a strong beat of his wings, sending snow flying behind him, he flew higher and higher until he burst through the clouds, into that magical space untouched by man, where the colors of the sun were softer and reflected off the clouds.  Mandoria looked down to make sure Royal followed him.

N: Royal was close behind, and although she was decently quick, she couldn't ascend as fast as Mandoria due to her smaller wings. When she had finally broken through the clouds, she looked around at the scenery in awe. Honestly, she had been above the clouds plenty of times, but every time she was blown away by its beauty.

After a moment, she began to fly through the clouds, letting her hand touch the large white masses before completely diving into it, only shortly shooting right out of it.

The Brit felt like a kid in that place, the biggest smile stretched across her face. She even let Wren take control just so that she could experience it for herself.

M: Mandoria chuckled as he watched her have fun, he's been up here billions of times so the awe factor wasn't as strong, but he loved seeing the younger ones' reactions, it was a warm sensation seeing someone experience feeling truly free, to see all the burdens and trauma lifted away for a moment.

He flew after Wren, joining her in enjoying the clouds, laughing with joy as they did, there was nothing like taking to the sky with someone else to enjoy it with.  "So, how does it feel to be a winged country," he asked with a smirk, flying by her side, "does it feel like I said it would, or so much better than that?"

N: "It's pretty good," Wren smiled, "it feels like I have more freedom than freedom itself. Is that even possible?" She laughed at her own question before gliding around, just taking in the view.

After a couple of minutes, the Brit asked, "What's the winged community like? And before you ask, no I didn't attend your meetings; I guess I didn't feel ready to actually meet you after the amazing descriptions Anglo and Wales gave of you and maybe I felt intimidated." She sighed before rubbing her face, "I just feel so out of tune with everything."

M: "Why didn't you say so before, I would have been more than willing to teach you," Mandoria said, "for the most part it is quite respectful, but there is a hierarchy defined by the size of one's wings.  Obviously, the largest wings earn the title of King Wing, and the smaller one's wings are the less respect is held by everyone else, that's why Wales is still seen as just a child, because his wings are really small and no one takes him that seriously, don't tell him I said that though."

As they flew, Mandoria had this strange feeling in his stomach, like something was about to happen yet he didn't know what.  He looked down and saw that they had flown quite a long way from the compound, but before he could point this out he felt a tingling in his feathers.

He stopped and hovered in place, "Wren, did you feel that, I thought I felt a winged country nearby."

N: The British country hovered next to Mandoria and fell silent, trying to find the feeling until suddenly she felt it. "Yeah, I do," Wren spoke slowly, trying to scan the ground but they were pretty high up, "it's not a familiar one either, or I think it isn't. There's no reason for Anglo to be here, and it would be really hard to detect Wales' from this high."

The Brit hummed in her throat, "There's no harm in checking right?" Just as she spoke, she began to glide down, her descent slow just in case whoever it was was dangerous and she didn't want to nosedive into danger.