N:   Johann soon walked in, rubbing his face in an attempt to soothe it, but it didn't work and his nose only got redder.

"That girl can tackle," he grumbled in response to Heinrich's chuckle, but when he saw the two unconscious men, he shook his head, "what happened this time?"

"We think Odrus healed Chrysalis to the best of his ability," Anglo answered, "but in doing so, he drained himself."

Johann and Heinrich quickly exchanged looks, to which the Saxon leaned over the insurgent and carefully opened his eye, revealing a stormy grey iris.

"Let's just say that whatever he went through," he muttered, "will take a while to fix."

M:   "For both of them," Mandoria muttered, "Odrus is suffering too, just image finding out you tore someone to shreds that you have been desperately trying to befriend, neither will be the same, so we must do what we can to support them both, right."

 The others agreed, even if they still despised Chrysalis, they had grown to respect him in certain ways, so weren't going to stand idly by, not this time.

"So now what," Neflen asked, "we have a ball to organize, a family member kidnapped, another one heartbroken over the loss of a partner, and two who are barely hanging on to what little they have; am I missing anything?"

"Well, we also have a pregnant dragon who's about to burst any day now," Uskaine added, "as well as a new country to take care of, six insurgents to rescue, and two German psychopaths behind everything."

"That was a rhetorical question, idiot," Neflen grumbled.

N:   "But at least we have addressed all of the issues," Anglo pointed out.

"We still have a goddess sleeping in this compound, in the wrong dimension," BE interjected, getting a grumble from Anglo, to which he shrugged, "You can't exactly ignore her; she's huge."

"If so," Royal spoke as she entered the room, "we got an old entity to negotiate with." She took one good look at what was happening in the room, "I know that there may be other priorities, but we should aim to get England back for many reasons. One is to find information to free Ora, send Suebi back to where he wherever he came from, and make sure Arthur's death doesn't go in vain."

"That's easier said than done," the empire countered.

"True," the hybrid shrugged, "but don't worry, Wren devised a plan and will get his attention soon enough," and when the empire enquired as to what the secondary alter did, Royal answered, "She sent him an invitation. He hasn't seen it yet, but when he does I'll tell you, and you better get your nicest suit on when you do. You're going to meet your great-grandfather."

There was an uncomfortable silence, as well as Anglo glowering at the hybrid, thinking that she did the most stupid decision, so the hybrid clasped her hands and uncomfortable smiled. "But now, why don't we eat, huh? Reduce the tension, and we can have food brought here for the patients; how does that sound?"

M:   The others exchanged glances, not sure what to think.

"I think that's either the stupidest idea of the century," Askad voiced, "or the only option we have left. Yes we can eat, but you have to explain exactly what you're plan was before we can decide just how stupidly brilliant it is, deal?"

N:   "Sure," Royal shrugged, "it's not that complex anyway." With that, they left the infirmary towards the dining hall, except for a small few who decided to stay and keep the injured countries company.

When they had arrived and sat at the table, waiting for the food to be served, Royal began to explain her thought process."I was just thinking to invite him somewhere, obviously in a neutral location, and then we just discuss the terms and conditions."

"That's it," BE replied, sounding further miffed, "No 'let's put him into a trap' or 'get stuff our way'?"

"No, because we don't know him enough. He is new, has lots of experience, and we don't know his strengths and weaknesses. Even if Anglo and Saxon knew stuff, we don't know how the millennium or so has treated him, so we have to go from the basics."

The hybrid sighed before reaching for her glass of water, "It's better than nothing, but the problem is that he would ask for Arthur's 'master', and if it is either Chrysalis or Saxon, none of them are currently in the condition to go to him."

M:   "Honestly we can't say it's either of them he wants anymore," Rowen said, "if what Saxon said is true and Suebi was here, he would have had the perfect opportunity to take both of them, but all he did was partially heal Chrysalis and traumatize Saxon."

"At this point, it's a waste of time to try to figure out that cunt," Uskaine groaned, "it only brings pain and confusion, I say we drag both of them there and let him pick who he wants."

"For what, what would he want them for," Askad asked, "that's the thing as well, we don't know what he wants with the 'master', and Esha and I already sent Arther's soul to the afterlife so it would be disrespectful to try to access his memories."

"How about we put this conversation aside before our heads explode," Mandoria interjected, "let's discuss something else, like Edel, I still can't believe that after all these years of thinking that he is a boy, he's about to have babies."

The others looked over to the corner where Edel and Sleipner were sleeping, with the Sigven resting his head on his mate's plump belly.

N:   Johann looked over to the pair and hummed, "Well now my mind is going to explode about how exactly their kids would turn out. Would they be dragons with eight legs or horses with draconic features?"

"Wouldn't that be the same thing," Heinrich asked, "and at the end of the day, does it matter?"

"No, because we don't know which half would go where, and no, but it would be interesting." He turned to Sofia and rubbed her head, "But she would get more hybrid friends her age, wouldn't you?"

"You should add Royal into that," BE smirked.

"Just because I'm a couple of years younger than you doesn't mean you can treat me as a child," the hybrid frowned, "besides, Wales told me that you had plenty of fun playing Sofia not that long ago. What was it, you were the knight while Sofia was king, and you, Wales, and Chrysalis fought Esha, the 'evil' dragon, right?"

The empire grumbled before glaring at his brother, who only weakly smiled in return.

M:   "Yeah, we were knights like everyone else here," Sofia declared, "it was so much fun, Auntie Eshie sat on Uncle BE until Wales set her tail on fire."

The adults laughed at the story, Mandoria especially loved it, "Oh that brings back so many memories, Mandara and Derogan would love to play Conquer the King by wrestling with me when I least expect it."

"Did you and your kids ever have fun like that," Uskaine asked BE, "I know your relationship isn't the best but surely there was one point where you were a family."

N:   "There weren't that many 'family' moments," BE admitted, "probably the best times were when both Canada and America were young, up until America reached his late teens. Something happened, Canada got hurt, and I guess we weren't the same after that." The empire turned to Royal, who was listening intently with her arms crossed, "luckily Royal was able to help out, but things just went downhill from there. A war between FE and I-"

"At this point, it's expected," Ireland interrupted, getting an elbow to the side from Wales.

The empire narrowed his eyes at the Irishman before continuing, "Canada staying with his mother meant that I barely saw him, and America only grew distant."

"Come on," Johann interjected, "there had to be a time."

The Brit thought for a moment before a small smile emerged. "As I said, there were not many instants, and especially both FE and I are leading two empires, we didn't do things like play knights, but the four of us would organize weeks where we spend exploring in the great outdoors, away from prying eyes and just be us, and the boys would discover something new about the world every day. The last time we did it, we were in the French coast, and Canada made a snow angel in the sand."

"I guess Scotland traumatized you enough to go hiking away from him," Royal remarked.

M:   "Wait, what happened with Scotland," Neflen asked, "now I'm curious, what did he do to make you stay away from his home?"

He never got his answer, heavy footsteps approaching the dining room stole their attention, causing everyone to turn to the doorway as Esha and Celtica walked in. Esha was almost unrecognizable, the strong and confident eternal couldn't even lift her wings off the ground, her face and eyes were red from crying, but her irises were a deep, deep shade of blue.

"Hey Eshie," Neflen greeted softly, standing up to be by her side, "how are you feeling?"

Esha looked at him like he was stupid but just sighed, and said in the quietest and most depressed voice, "Celtica said I should come eat something, but I'm not hungry."

Without another word, she sat at the table farthest from everyone and rested her head on her arms, staring off into nothingness.

N:   Celtica sighed at Esha's response and went to sit beside her, keeping her company at all times. When the lunch was served, the Celt brought Esha's plate to her, trying her best to convince her to eat, but it was clear that the Eternal wasn't going to.

Seeing this, Wales got up from his seat, took his plate with him, walked to the other end of the table, and sat opposite of Esha. Seeing her plate, he shook his head and grabbed for a smaller plate, placing a single mince pie and a slice of treacle tart in the center.

"Although you may not feel hungry," he spoke, "your body definitely will feel the effects of hunger, even if your mind feels it or not. Arthur's death has affected you deeply, and we are here to support you and help you, and that includes taking care of you, even if it means starting small. Now, just as I asked Neflen when he refused to eat, choose which one to eat; I don't care which one, but I am giving you one as a gift from me to you."

M:   Esha didn't respond, she didn't even move aside from her eyes focusing on Wales, until she shifted to look away from him and the plate.

"I've lived on the bare minimum most of my life, Wales," she muttered into her arms, "it can take weeks for me to feel hunger pains. You can give my gift to Sofia, she's still growing, she needs it more than I do."

She started feeling a little crowded with both Celtica and Wales there, and when she saw Neflen start to come back over she grunted in annoyance. She shifted into her dragon form, except it was no bigger than an iguana, and flew over to Edel and Sleipnir, where she grew to her more normal "Edel-size", and snuggled up to them.

The two critters didn't mind it, they sensed that she was in a fragile mind space, so they shifted so she was comfortable and let her go to sleep, knowing that she didn't need people trying to get her to do things, she just needed a safe, warm place to lay down and rest.

N:   Wales turned to Celtica, who only shrugged in response, so the Welsh sighed as he slid the plate over to Sofia. After a moment, he looked around the room and noticed that someone was missing. "Ire," he asked, "have you seen Dad?"

The Irishman just shrugged as he tucked in, "The last time I saw him was a couple of hours ago, and he seemed like he was in a rush."

"Of course he does," Royal pointed out, "his husband got kidnapped by some random dude, and he's doing his best to get him back."

M:   "And you just let him wander off," Askad asked in disbelief, "what if he does something reckless and gets himself hurt, no one should be by themselves at this time, England might not be the only person Suebi is going to kidnap."

 The others glanced at each other when they realized this, and Mandoria stood, "he's got a point, that madman has made it very clear that he will do anything to get his way. Ireland, did you see where your father went, I doubt he will be there but we need to start somewhere."

N:   "I don't know how interested Suebi would be in Scotty," Celtica spoke up, "he was part of the reason for the fall of Rome, which lead to my release, so if anything, if I hadn't known of who he was, I would have been fine with him."

"I agree, Suebi seemed to be targeting the English," Royal nodded, "but Anglo did say that he expressed his disappointment when he learned that England had gotten soft because of his relationship, and the entity didn't seem to like Anglo, so that could easily be the same for Scotty. Not to mention that Chrysalis did make a deal with him, and if he mentioned anything in regards to his insurgent work, Scotty's in trouble."

"So why aren't we going to get him," Ireland spoke as he got to his feet, "I saw him head outside, so who knows where he is."

The hybrid paused for a bit before smiling, "Don't worry, I can hear small mutters from the Scotsman, and I think I know where he is, so," he glanced at Celtica, "don't worry. He might even help find England too."

M:   When Royal said that Scotland was fine it calmed Mandoria down enough to sit, though his outburst shocked his husband.

"That was a little odd, Mandoria," Rowen admitted, "for the past half a year we've been here, I haven't seen you that determined, you looked like you were ready to jump into battle."

"He's right, I've never seen you act like that before," Uskaine said, "is this how you were like before your broken eyes?"

Askad hummed at that, he then slithered over to Mandoria and lifted his chin to get a better look at his eyes.

"Hmm, I don't think you're eyes were broken after all," he declared with a smile, "they've got a little bit of color to them, and I have a feeling that when your sons get here, it will be just what you need to finally heal."

N:   Johann smiled at the news, doing a mini celebration at his seat while Heinrich chuckled at him.

"By the way," he asked, "where are Mandara and Derogan?"

"Wil never specified in the letter," Royal shrugged, "but the bird did say that he last saw them in Greece."

"Greece, huh?" BE hummed, "Well let's hope that Ottoman Greece treats him decently; our relation is a bit ... strained at the moment."

"I wonder why," the hybrid strolled her eyes, "do remember that if Wil does get into a sticky situation because of the Ottomans, I will call off the blockade, right?"

"I don't doubt it," the empire replied nonchalantly, "but remember that I have the last word and it would count as an act of treason."

"Wouldn't be the first time," she grumbled as she dug into her lunch.

M:   Mandoria turned to the two Brits when he heard them speak, a momentary flash of disappointment painted on his face that BE was bullying people again.

"Seriously, you're bullying people again," Neflen voiced the former king's thoughts, "sweet mother of Aklous, BE, there is not a moment in this place that we don't hear about your dictatorship on the whole goddamn world, would it kill you to be more like Mandoria for just a day?"

N:   BE was about to reply when the hybrid beat him to it, "his fat ego would never allow him to act like Mandoria."

"Royal, mind how you speak," the empire began, but then he was cut off when he saw her bronze eye glaring at him.

"And what," Wren growled, "is it against your 'laws' to speak the truth? I will respect you as it was your family who took my brother and I in, but when it comes to Wilfred, I will do anything in my power to keep him safe. You may be the chief in command of the military, but it is my face that they are more familiar with, so if I tell you that I will call off the blockade, I will. If you intervene, then it is on you if there are any mutinies."

"First off," the empire spoke, his voice filled with authority, "why are you out, Wren, and secondly, what stops me from charging you with treason?"

The hybrid smirked, "Well, that's easy. I am not a country, so there isn't a 'people' for you to destroy as you have done to many others; I am the best you got to lead the military, sure you could have one of your family members, but they could be seen as a person specifically aligned to a particular country, making them untrustworthy, and there is no way Saxon could, and Anglo doesn't have the experience. I have the mind of two people, am skilled, got some extra perks since being a hybrid, and can lead. Lastly, we both know that there is no point doing so; it is expected of me to act 'treasonous' so to charge me has no effect."

She took a drink from her glass before adding, "And the reason Royal left was because she wasn't bothered to deal with your bullshit, so," she clasped her hand on his shoulder, a slight craziness in her eyes, "are we on the same page, dear Albion?"

BE stared at Wren, still keeping his composure, before shrugging off her hand, "I believe so; however, I will keep this outburst of yours in mind."

"Sure, why not, make sure you do when I get your father back."

The empire grumbled in response, quietly eating his food, while the other look proud of herself.

M:   Funny enough, Neflen, Uskaine, and even Mandoria applauded Wren for standing up for herself, while Rowen and Askad shook their heads in disappointment that the children were encouraging this. Esha meanwhile, was listening to their bickering since she couldn't sleep, she rolled her eyes at that and decided to sneak away to hang out with Scotland, the only one besides Celtica that she didn't mind being around during her vulnerable moments.

Despite her keen hearing, she wasn't as sensitive as Royal, the only reason she knew BE was in trouble way back when was because he was at the mouth of the cave and his shout was amplified. Either way, she instead tried to sniff out her friend since she was still a dragon, also asking any servants she happened to pass by if they saw him at all.

N:   One of the servants pointed outside to where the gardens were, saying that they saw Scotland there.

The Scotsman was indeed at the gardens, not far from one of the entrances to the compound, where he sat on one of the benches, watching something in the distance. Further away, a couple of hundred meters away from him was a single scarecrow, but it resembled Suebi; however, it was clear that it was meant to mock him, and on the scarecrow was a note attached to it.

Not that long ago, Maria, since she was working in the Royal Gardens, went to check on the country, and although he said that he was fine, and even though it was clear that he wasn't, she didn't pester him and walked away. She made sure to keep an eye on him, and she was surprised that he left and came back with an axe. When she saw Esha approaching, she hoped that the Eternal would help him out, but she made sure to not be too far.

M:   When Esha came over and saw what was going on, she just sighed and sat beside Maria, "Clearly this is a bad time, but I would rather sit here and watch Scotty gut something than listen to BE and his imperialism."

She lay her head down on the snow and sighed, her warm breath instantly vaporizing the frozen cover and exposing the yellowed grass underneath. She silently watched as the Scot hacked the scarecrow to pieces until there was nothing but a pile of hay and ripped fabric.

When he came back over she simply asked, "You feel better now?"

N:   "I only will when it's the real deal," Scotland grumbled as he stood next to Esha, his axe resting on his shoulder as he looked at the scarecrow, "Wren's going to kill me when she finds out."

"And why would she?" Maria asked.

"She was the one who made that," the Scot pointed at the remains of the scarecrow, "so that she could attract that bastard. She wrote in the note an invitation, but I guess it's going to be harder to attract him now."

"Well it's a good thing she made two then," the Saxon smirked, "I was wondering why she was carrying them anyway."

The Scot let out a sigh of relief before swinging his weapon to the ground, letting it cut into the ground and stand up on its own.

"What about you, Esha," he asked, "how are you holding up?"

M:   "I left my room, so that's a plus," Esha shrugged, "I don't know, I've never been in this situation before, Neflen was my first and only mate, I don't give my heart away so easily. It hurts so much, I can't have Johann, and Arther is taken away from me, and it's not like I can just get back together with Neflen after millions of years apart."

She sighed again and stared up at the sky, "It feels like the universe is against me, that it wants to bring me down whenever I find happiness, it's just not fair. What do I do, do I continue to seek happiness and risk getting hurt worse, or do I do what I always do, run away from my problems and cut the only family I have out of my life yet again? Neither sounds ideal, but I don't see any other alternatives."

N:   Scotland was silent for a moment, thinking of a response, "I would say that, if you had to choose the lesser of two evils, the first option is the best. It's never good for anyone to be isolated and alone, but I don't know how to help you with your hurt."

"There is always a risk when you seek happiness," Maria added, "and at the end of the day, you need to weigh out the risks against the rewards, and see if the whole thing is worth it. Happiness can come from many sources, from hobbies or taking care of the people less fortunate, and I have learned that after losing my husband, but it is never the same compared to when he was alive. That sort of happiness felt authentic; human and something tangible."

She turned to the Eternal and smiled, "The universe may be against you, but I believe with all my being that it will not be forever, and one day you will find someone. I'm not talking wistfully either; like what Scotland said, it isn't good to be left alone, and deep down it isn't in our nature to do so, so whether it be a close friend or a life partner, you will find someone that can be with you through thick and thin. I guarantee it."

"You never know," Scotland muttered, "you might find someone in the Yule ball."

M:   Esha listened to their points and smiled softly, "Thank you, I need to hear that, at least I still have a little bit of happiness with my family, and I'll forever be grateful for it."

The dragon sat up and yawned slightly, "I'm still a little tired but I can't rest knowing England is out there somewhere, there has to be something more we can do, but other than our cave I don't know where Suebi could possibly hide out."

N:   "The only thing we can do is wait," Scotland answered solemnly, "we're playing his game now, not ours, and we have to follow its rules. Wren is doing just that, trying to communicate with Suebi, and the moment we can, then we can start making plans. However, right now, there is nothing we can do."

"What you can do, Esha, is go and check up on Odrus," Maria spoke firmly, "I heard something happened to him in the dungeons and he's in the infirmary right now. Make sure that you know that he is safe and well."

M:   Esha raised a brow at that, both because of Maria's tone of voice and what she said about Odrus. She nodded that she would check on him and left, but she actually just headed back to her room, too tired to deal with any more problems and certain that Odrus was fine.

On her way there she saw BE pass by and stopped to talk to him.

 "Hey, sorry about what Neflen said, it was uncalled for since we don't understand what it's like to rule half the world."

N:   "Don't bother," BE replied, "That's what you get when you're an empire: some people like you, most don't. And it was clear that he didn't understand my position when I hear his comment either; kindness can only get you so far, and for a medium-sized kingdom like Mandoria, it works well, but when it comes to ruling millions at home and abroad, as well as competing with other empires, your kindness is used against you and once in a while, you have to assert your dominance."

The empire rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "But I guess I do not watch myself when I am in a friendly and family setting."

M:   "We all have our moments where we just want to rip each other apart," Esha shrugged, "I guess at the end of the day we need to take extra care in watching our attitudes, because it's those who are closest to you who are the most fragile."

She stood there for a minute, unsure of what else to say, "Um, yeah, I'm headed to bed, just waking me up when it's time to ... you know ... say goodbye."

N:   BE nodded, understanding what she meant, and bid her goodbye before parting ways. The rest of the day went smoothly, not many things happened as people came and left the compound, but a certain Welshman was getting the necessary preparations ready to properly send off Arthur.

It was getting dark when Wales found BE, informing him that everything was finished, and whether they should do the funeral now.

"Everyone is still here," the empire replied, "and we got a busy day ahead of us, so we should. And it's not too late either."

"If you say so," Wales replied, notifying the servants that the funeral will commence, and that it would be held in a graveyard not too far from the compound. BE found everyone, save Esha, and told them about the plans, and that they should dress appropriately, and when Johann reminded him about his lack of attire, the Saxons suggested that they lend them their clothing for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Celtica made her way to Esha's room, and when she arrived, she momentarily paused before knocking on her door. "Esha," she called out, "it's time."

M:   Esha had unshifted by then and was semi-peacefully sleeping, but still woke up when Celtica knocked on her door.

"Ok, I'll be out in a moment," she said, getting out of her bed to get ready. After a few minutes she opened the door, she wore a black shin-length dress with long sleeves, and on her face were painted blue streaks that ran from her eyes down her cheeks.

"It's tradition for eternals in mourning to wear painted tears at a funeral," she explained when Celtica gave her a funny look, "it symbolizes our sadness in the person's passing, and how much they mean to us."

N:   Celtica nodded, "And I am sure that Arthur meant a lot to you, so it only makes sense. Come on, let's go and meet the others." As the two women walked, they were accompanied by a servant, dressed in all black, who carried a lantern to light the way outside and towards the cemetery. Everyone else was there, as well as a few more servants spotted around carrying lanterns until the area was decently lit.

Once everyone has settled down, everyone fell quiet as the coffin was brought out, with the British flag draped over it, brought on the shoulders of a group of cadets, who all volunteered to be the pallbearers. As they approached the grave, the eight of them then carefully, with ropes, lowered the coffin into the grave, while a ninety removed the flag before they did, until it reached its final resting spot.

Standing around in attention, they saluted in unison before falling back into the crowd, cueing the entrance of the priest, who in his long robe and bible in hand made his way in front of everyone. "The Honourable Gentlemen, Gentleman of the Horse, Sir Arthur James Beckerel lies here before us and God, a life cut short and stolen of a fruitful future. He will be remembered as a friend, mentor, and son, and he has served his country and his King until his last breath. May we have a moment of silence in remembrance of him." After a minute of silence, the priest began to recite prayers and read scriptures.

In reality, most of them didn't actually listen to what the priest said afterward, zoning out his voice as they looked at Arthur's grave, and what seemed like forever only lasted a couple of minutes. Finally, the priest closed his bible and looked up to BE, "Is there anything that His Majesty wants to say?"

"I believe that that honor should be given to Esha," the empire replied, facing the Eternal, "if she is willing to do so."

M:   Esha looked up when her name was mentioned, her painted tears nearly completely washed away by her real ones, she glanced over to her friends like she was asking permission, and when they nodded she walked up to the front. She stared down at the casket, still unable to imagine that the man that she wanted to be with forever was lying in it. She eventually turned to the crowd and mustered what little strength she had left to speak.

"Well ... I don't really know what to say," she admitted, her voice cracking from sadness, "I've known Arthur for only a few months not nearly as long as most of the people here. Despite that, he was one of the kindest, funniest, most gentle, and most understanding person I have ever met, and as a person speaking with billions of years worth of meeting people, that is no boasting. I still can't believe that he's gone ... I never ... n-never even got to t-tell him ... how I felt."

 She broke down again before she could finish, dropping down to her knees and crying into her hands, Neflen and Celtica had to help her stand and bring her back to the group.

N:   The priest awkwardly walked back to his position before continuing with the service, "It is clear that the death of Sir Beckerel has affected us all, and we pray that his soul joins our Father in his eternal paradise."

Some of the crowd muttered a few words under their breath with the final prayers led by the priest, marking the end of the service. Some of the guests went home since it was dark, and a few servants stayed to light up the way back to the compound. Meanwhile, the cadets grabbed for the shovels, and using the nearby piles of dirt, began to cover the coffin.

Celtica stayed by Esha the entire time, comforting her as best as she could, and when Maria saw this, she walked up to the Eternal and gave her a small bouquet of flowers that she was able to get before arriving. "Have this," she spoke softly, "so you can give them to Arthur."

M:   Esha tentatively took the flowers, nodding her thanks to Maria, and silently waited for the cadets to finish filling the grave. When they did she knelt down and lay the flowers on the center of the grave, and just sat there as she dwelled on everything.

She wouldn't move, she wouldn't acknowledge anyone who stayed with her, even as they left one by one and the snow started to fall, she still knelt there. Everyone thought that she just needed a moment alone and assumed that she would come in eventually, but she didn't, she lay down at the foot of the grave and passed out from her lack of energy, a soft sheet of snow and a thin dress the only thing covering her from the cold.

N:   It has been almost an hour since the funeral ended, and Esha was still at the grave when a hooded figure walked into view, immediately rushing to the Eternal's side when he saw that she was passed out. He reached out to touch her face, and instantly reeled back to feel it freezing cold.

"I guess you wanted to be here forever," he muttered before brushing off the snow that covered her, "then it wouldn't be long until your friends attend another funeral, if you don't fall into Stasis."

The figure stood, then he carefully lifted her up, her arm around him as she was way taller than him, and he took her back to the compound. Once he had arrived, he had gotten the attention of a few servants, so hiding his face under his hood, he handed Esha over to them. Before they could get his name, the figure had already left, leaving them confused but they quickly rushed over to take Esha to the infirmary.

"Prometheus will kill me when he finds out I'm here," the person muttered, drawing his cloak tighter around him, "but he did heal her; hopefully he lets me off." With that, he disappeared into the night.

M:   When Esha woke up the next morning she was confused as to why she was in the infirmary and bundled up in lots of blankets, then she remembered that she fell asleep by Arthur's grave and deduced that someone must have brought her back inside.

She slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, that's when she saw both Neflen and Scotland sleeping near her, with Scotland even resting his head on her bed.

"I guess you two were the ones who found me," she whispered, softly petting the sleeping Scot's hair, "I'm sorry I have to worry you guys so much."

N:   "Hmmm," Scotland muttered as he began to stir from his sleep, his eyes opening for a moment to check Esha before closing them again. "Nay, someone else found you, and it wasn't any of us. The servants didn't get a name from the person, but I guess I better thank them, whoever they are."

The Scot fell quiet for a bit, dozing off for a second before jolting awake. Sitting up in his seat, he rubbed his eyes as he continued, "I feel bad that I didn't go and check on you after, Òrail, and you were in bad shape when you were brought in, so Neflen and I took turns taking care of you, but I guess the both of us ended up sleeping."

M:   "It's alright, it's my fault for staying there alone," Esha reassured him, "I was so exhausted from the funeral that I just passed out, it wasn't my intention to freeze myself to near death."

The eternal yawned and pulled her blankets closer to her, "I'm sorry I'm such a mess, seems I just can't do anything right, huh."

N:   "I would be surprised if you weren't," Scotland admitted, "things like this don't disappear in a day, and the feeling will linger so if you need anyone to support you, I'm right here."

As soon as he finished, BE walked into the room, and immediately asked about Saxon's and Chrysalis' states. "Sir Saxon is getting better but he's still uneasy on his feet, so he needs to rest," the doctor replied, "but Chrysalis hasn't woken up yet."

"Then notify me when the both of them are awake," the empire replied, "and if it is necessary, splash some cold water on them."

"What's the rush," the Scot asked.

"We got a message back from Suebi," the Brit answered instead, "in a small town not far from here at sunset. He's willing to negotiate for England's release."

"However, he specifies that we keep our side of the deal," BE added, "and since we don't know who he wants, we need to bring them both."