M:   Askad, as slowly as possible, moved away from the bed so the infirmary workers could move Maria's body away, being very careful not to wake him up. Sofia pulled a blanket off another bed and brought it to her father, then climbed up with Heinz to snuggle with him.

Sabeth stared at the interaction between the human and eternals with complete and utter confusion, he didn't understand how these enemy species could be so harmonious with each other, Esha smiled in amusement at this and ran her hand through his fur, saying that he would understand this with time.

A bit later, Rowen popped in and asked, "Is Saxon ok to leave, BE and Royal want to show him and Anglo something, they said that Esha could come too if she wanted."

N:   Saxon perked up when his name was mentioned, "I think I am ok to leave," before getting out of his bed. However, he paused for a moment when a letter addressed to him caught his attention, so without causing a delay, he quickly swiped it and followed Rowen to wherever BE and Royal were. While they walked, he opened up the letter and couldn't help smiling. "Finally, some good news," he said to himself before folding the letter away.

They headed to one of the many rooms in the compound, and when they walked in, Anglo was in the middle of a conversation with BE, the former seemingly looked impatient. "Where is proof that he is actually dead," the winged country asked, "even if you saw him die, he can come back to life. He already did it once, and there is nothing stopping him from doing it again."

"Now that Saxon is now here," Royal interrupted, stepping between the grandfather and grandson, indicating to the approaching entity, "now you will get the proof that you wanted." She beckoned them all to a table, where there was a cloth covering something up in the middle of it, and when she was sure that she had gotten their attention, she pulled the cloth away to reveal Suebi's decapitated head.

The people nearby took a step back from the sight, repulsed by the blood and lifeless head, however, the four Brits didn't move a muscle as they looked at the remnant of Suebi in silence.

"Burn it," Anglo muttered after a moment, looking back up to Royal, "burn it and make sure that I never see his face ever again. Am I clear?"

The hybrid nodded before wrapping the head back in the cloth and slinging it over her shoulder like a bag before heading off outside to set up a fire.

M:   "Let me join you," Esha said, she came with Rowen and Saxon since she was curious about what was going on, "I very much what to see that cunt go up in smoke, and I think I can figure out how to keep him in Jastrem with the ashes."

"Yeah, because that's a very normal thing to say, Esha," Rowen joked, mostly to hide his discomfort at seeing Suebi's head again, "should we be worried about that?"

Esha didn't give an answer, just a mischievous smirk, so Rowen ignored it and slid down to the floor, overwhelmed by his own thoughts.

"What am I going to do," he muttered to no one in particular, "how can I trust my husband to be near Johann after that, how could I trust him altogether after what happened, he's a wolf in sheep's clothing, he's worse than that. Has my whole life been one giant lie?"

N:   BE watched as Rowen sat on the floor, listening to him muttering, so he walked up to the Mandorian and crouched down. "That is something that you and Mandoria have to discuss between yourselves; how you see him and vise versa so that you both of you know your standing."

The empire glanced behind him, seeing how Callum and Johann were talking to each other, the two people who were close to Heinrich but don't know enough to properly help him. So he added, "And just so you know, be more aware of your surroundings. Say what you said louder and your son would have heard you."

M:   Rowen turned to where BE was looking, his eyes widening at seeing his son. The longer he looked at Johann, the more he remembered the fake Johann's expression when Mandoria killed him, the look of utter betrayal haunted his mind. The Mandorian had to look away, but the damage was already done and he began to weep into his hands.

He sat there for a moment just to cry, then he stood up and walked over to Johann, pulling him into a large hug and continuing to cry into his shoulder. He wasn't really thinking at the moment, his body was on autopilot, driven by his emotions as he desperately clung to his son, not wanting to ever let him go.

N:   Johann was taken aback by the hug, and certainly by his father crying, but he returned the embrace regardless.

"Rowen," Callum spoke as the pair shared a look of confusion, "are you alright? Did something happen?"

When Rowen didn't answer, Johann just patted his father's back before also asking, "Hezyka, are you ok? Did you get triggered by something?" Again there was silence, so he let Rowen be while asking the Scot to call Mandoria.

Once he was gone, the Mandorian felt Rowen hug him tighter. "Don't worry, Hezyka," he reassured him, "I'm not going anywhere."

M:   Rowen was frightened to hear that Callum was going to get Mandoria, something he really shouldn't feel, but after today he didn't know right from wrong.

"J-Johann, t-there's something I need to tell you," he muttered, clearly it couldn't wait anymore, "S-Suebi played a very dirty trick, and now I don't know if I can trust your father anymore because of it."

Rowen had to sit down to be able to do this, but even when they did he still couldn't bring up the words, like his body still refused to believe they were true, he had no choice but to ask BE for help.

N:   Johann turned to BE, to which the empire sighed and recounted the events that they saw between Suebi and Mandoria, including the part where the Mandorian killed a fake Johann.

Johann just stood there, staring into space as he tried to process what happened. A part of him sees that it was logical, since it wasn't him, but there was also anger, betrayal, and fear. Angry since Rowen had to endure it; betrayed that his father did that in the first place; and fear that Mandoria might do it again.

M:   Meanwhile, Mandoria had locked himself in his room, he shared his husband's fear, he couldn't trust himself either and was afraid to go near his own son. What was he supposed to do, he couldn't leave and face everyone after that, he was sure that Rowen didn't trust him anymore, he didn't blame him, but he wanted to go to Johann and make sure he was ok, to see that he was still alive and well.

The anger returned to him, but this time it was directed at himself, and in a blind rage he started tearing the room apart, throwing pottery, ripping fabric, and knocking over furniture, nothing was spared. He suddenly stopped when he passed by a mirror, he thought he saw something odd with his reflection, and when he took another look he was horrified, as rather than himself, he saw Prussia staring back at him.

"No, leave me alone," he shouted at the figure, "I'm not you, I will never be you, you can't control me anymore."

"Clearly I still can," the reflective empire sneered, shocking Mandoria, "face it Mandoria, it's just like Suebi said, we really are similar."

"Shut up, you're not real, you're just a figment of my imagination!"

"And what do you think that says about your mental health, I may be a mirror today, but tomorrow I could be BE, or maybe one of the eternals, or little Johann. You're running out of sanity, and I will be there to watch you break."

"I SAID SHUT UP!!!!"

The country punched the mirror as hard as he could, the glass shattering and lodging into his fist, but that pain was insignificant to what he already felt. He slid to his knees as he cried, he was teetering on the cliff of insanity, just how much more weight would it take to send him over the edge?

N:   Callum, along with PE, walked towards the Mandorian room, and the empire was about to knock when they heard the smashing and noises inside. The pair stood there in shock as the shattering continued, wondering what was happening, and when the shouting started, they grew concerned.

When the noises finally stopped, they waited for a moment before the Portuguese knocked on the door. "Mandoria," he called, "are you ok in there?"

"Johann wants you to help Rowen out," Callum added, "he seemed that he was triggered by something and we don't know why, and that maybe you could help."

M:   Mandoria barely registered the voices, not that he had the strength to answer them, he was inches away from the point of no return, never in his life had he felt so close to completely losing himself.

"I-I can't help," he whimpered, "I can't help anyone now, I can't help myself ..."

"... and no one can help you either," that venomous German voice declared, seemingly inside Mandoria's head, "you're finished Mandoria, you have nothing left to grip on to, you've fallen too far deep."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD," the country screamed, "leave me alone, please just go away!"

"You will fail them, in the end, you will kill them all, and there is nothing you can do about it."

Mandora screamed in agony, throwing himself against the door and causing it to bow, like he was trying to bash Prussia out of his head, or even knock the sanity back into his brain. He did this several times with various hard surfaces until blood ran down his face, but the voices still spoke, still mocked him, and all he could do was curl up on the floor and pray that they would go away.

N:   PE had enough, concerned for Mandoria's safety, so he barged against the door and forced it wide open. The pair looked inside and were surprised at the sight of the country, and immediately they rushed to his side, and the Scot panicked at the amount of blood around his head.

"H-he needs a doctor," Callum stuttered, trying to find something to stop the bleeding, "could you bring a doctor?" the empire gave him a weird look, not used to someone he doesn't know giving him orders, so the Scot explained, "Johann told me to get Mandoria, and I dragged you along, so let me honor Johann's request. So, go get a doctor."

PE frowned but he shrugged it off, quickly getting on his feet and rushing out of the room to get a doctor, and while he was gone, Callum did his best to comfort Mandoria, sitting beside him while he cleaned him up.

M:   Mandora couldn't hear PE and Callum talking, the voices were too loud now, his mind literally screamed at him at how horrible a person he was. He only noticed someone else was there when the Scot placed a handkerchief on his forehead to stop the bleeding, he looked up at him, except his mind saw someone completely different.

The country screamed and threw a punch, horrified when he made contact with a face and it wasn't another figment of his mind.

"Leave me alone, please stop this madness," he wailed, "I'm not like you, I didn't kill Johann, it was an imposter, please Prussia, go away, I'm not a monster, I'm not like you!"

Mandoria desperately tried to escape his tormenter, but the concussion he had given himself just caused him to flail around and scrape and bruise himself on all the broken furniture and ceramic.

N:   "Augh SHIT," Callum yelled as he clutched his nose, the impact of the punch causing it to bleed, so he took a moment to let the pain pass before getting up. When he crawled toward the Mandorian, he had to dodge another attack before being knocked down again.

"Prussia," the Scot questioned, "I'm not Prussia, why would I be that feathered bastard anyway?" He unsteadily got up onto his feet, a purple bruise forming on his arm while he held his bloody nose, "do I bloody sound like that Prussian, if so it would be very funny to hear him in my accent."

Stumbling forward, he added, "And stop moving your damn wings before you injure yourself."

M:   "Stay away from me, please leave me alone," Mandoria cried, seemingly unable to hear what Callum was saying, "I'm not like you, Johann is alive, I didn't kill him, I'm not a monster!"

"What the hell is going on in there," Esha asked, her dragon face appearing at the open window, "Royal and I can hear a tornado going through here from the woodline, is everything ok?"

N:   "Mandoria's going mad, that's what's happening," Callum grumbled before wobbling over to her, "he thinks that I'm Prussia, but I think I'm missing a couple defining features, like a flag," to which he waved at his own face, "and these," to which he flapped his working arm like a wing.

Soon after PE arrived with a doctor, to which Callum rolled his eyes, "Took you long enough."

"What happened here," PE exclaimed, "quickly doctor, help him out", to which the doctor was about to reach to Mandoria before he was quickly stopped by the Scot.

"He's not in the right mental state," he warned, "he needs to relax first before you could help him, unless he's going to think you're a certain Prussian."

M:   Esha tried to poke her head in to see what was happening but only her snout could fit through the window, so she shifted into a smaller dragon to get in, then unshifted altogether.

"Good lord, this place is destroyed," she commented, then took one look at Mandoria and shook her head, "after what Royal told me, I would be very surprised if he didn't lose his mind."

She drew a sigil in the air and blew it toward Mandoria, it hit him in the face and he immediately fell unconscious, "there, that should keep him asleep for a few good hours, insanity and memories are Uskaine's thing so I'll let him know about it."

She noticed the mirror and walked over to it, picking up one of the bloody pieces of glass, "Royal told me that Suebi turned into Johann to trick Mandoria, rightfully thinking he wouldn't attack and then he would backstab him. Mandoria figured out it wasn't Johann, so he attacked, impaling Suebi while he was still in disguise."

She turned to the others, "In short he butchered his own son, wouldn't that drive you all to insanity if you were in his shoes?"

N:  PE frowned at that, "I swear, Suebi becomes more twisted the more I hear of him. Now I'm starting to realize how much it might be for him."

"So what do we do now," Callum asked while he was being treated by the doctor, "we can't just leave Mandoria here?"

M:   "I don't think taking him to the infirmary is a good idea, being around others could be dangerous if he's having visual hallucinations," Esha said, "I say we just move him to a new room and inform BE, Rowen, and Johann of what happened, I'll talk with Uskaine to see if he can do anything to help."

She looked at the glass in her hand and sighed, "Whatever trust that has been broken between him and his family had better mend soon, otherwise he may be too far gone to save this time."

N:   Callum and PE both nodded in unison, then the latter added, "I can help Esha move Mandoria here."

"While I can go and get the others," Callum said, as he made his way out, followed by the doctor, who fussed about the Scot moving around too much, "try not to break even more stuff while I'm gone."

M:   "It's not like there's anything left to break," Esha grumbled, kicking away the rubble, "I'll probably have to put some sort of protection spell on him so he doesn't go ape shit again."

With that said, everyone did their respective duties, PE and Esha safely moved Mandoria to another room so he could be treated, and the eternal made sure to enchant everything in the room so Mandoria could not destroy it. She then left PE in charge of watching Mandoria and went to Uskaine to speak to him about Mandoria's issues.

"Well, the only way I can see it is a memory erase," he deduced, "just make Mandoria forget that he ever challenged Suebi and claim that someone else did, we'll have to take it up with his family for their decision though, so I guess I'm coming with you."

"And how nicely they will take the news," Esha sighed, "I doubt Rowen and Johann would even want to go near him now, either way, let's just go wait for Callum to bring them and see what happens."

N:   Callum got a bit lost making his way back to Rowen and Johann, since he was not used to the building, but when he arrived, he could immediately tell that something was off from Johann's expression. Wyatt stood afar off, and when he saw his brother and his troubled look, he walked over and asked in everything was alright.

"No, it's not," Callum muttered after briefly explaining what happened, and he made his way over to the Mandorians, and before he even spoke, Johann's look was enough for him to know that the other knew what happened, so he took in a deep breath.

"Rowen, Johann, could you come with me, please? Mandoria isn't himself and needs your help, so could you follow-"

"Nein," Johann answered immediately, a bit too quickly that even he was surprised by it, "not happening."

"Come no, Johann," Wyatt spoke, "he's your father."

"And would a father murder his own son," the Mandorian countered, standing up to the both of them so that he was between the brothers and Rowen, "tell me, why the hell would I go near him?"

"Because he is family, and family have to stick together."

"I went to him when I was an orphan," Johann snapped, "he and Rowen took me in, and Mandoria was my protector, the person who was supposed to care for me, so tell me exactly, how the hell did he get the will to kill me, even if I was fake? And the fact that he did that in front of Hezyka is what I hate the most; he knew that BE would send people to him, so maybe he should put the effort to actually see if Hezyka was there before doing what he did."

"Seriously," Callum scoffed, "you had no idea what he was going through his head, besides he's not the same right now as when he was back with Suebi."

"Was he the person responsible for your nose," the Mandorian asked, and when he got no reply, he hummed in acceptance before sitting back down next to Rowen.

M:   Rowen was quiet, almost numb in attitude as he didn't react much to the argument. Neflen happen to be there to help Rowen and Johann cope, and he was curious as to what Callum was talking about.

"Hang on a second, Johann, let's hear Callum out," he said, "what do you mean he's not the same?"

The eternal wouldn't let Johann protest, he kept a hand on his shoulder to keep him under control until Callum was finished, at which point he could only whistle in shock.

"I hate to say it, but it really sounds like Mandoria finally fell off the deep end," he commented, "killing a fake Johann had driven him to insanity, I think that shows that he deeply regrets it."

"That's putting it lightly," Rowen muttered, not looking at anyone, "he was crying the whole trip back home, which was three hours long. Suebi put him in a position that no parent should ever be in, and because of it he has completely lost his mind."

After a minute of contemplation, Rowen stood and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "Johann, we can't shut your father out because of something he had no choice in doing. He still loves you, Johann, if he didn't he wouldn't have gone insane, now he needs us and we have to help him, please."

N:   Johann's face softened a little bit, and if it wasn't for Rowen asking, he wouldn't have considered the possibility. "Alright," he muttered before getting up on his feet, "but I'm still mad that he killed fake me in front of you."

With that, Callum led the Mandorians, along with BE, Neflen, and Wyatt, to the new room that Mandoria was now in, and when they approached the door, PE warned them that the country was asleep but could still have hallucinations.

M:   Uskaine and Esha were in the room with PE, there was a magic line coming from the sleeping kingdom's head that was connected to one of the viewing windows, they were in the middle of watching Mandoria's memories to see at what point he cracked.

They turned around when the group came in, the screen paused at the part where Prussia's face was where Callum should have been.

"It's really bad," Uskaine said bluntly, "Mandoria has well passed the point of no return, killing the Johann imposter has made him believe that he is just like Prussia, the insanity had developed so rapidly that he has reached one of the worst stages of madness in only three hours, a man of weaker mental fortitude would have died immediately by such a rapid progression."

Esha nodded in agreement, "To keep it simple, Mandoria's mind is so fractured that he will have permanent auditory and visual hallucinations without magical help."

Rowen was utterly shocked, he figured it was bad but never would he have guessed it would be that severe. He stared at the frozen image of his husband's memory, of the face that has haunted all of their minds, "c-can you keep playing that ... I-I want to see how bad it is, p-please."

Uskaine and Esha glanced at each other, unsure if it was healthy for Rowen to see Mandoria's mental state, they looked to the others for their decision.

N:   "Wait, what," Johann spoke in surprise, "No, nein, not happening. There is no way that you're going to watch it when he," to which he pointed at Prussia's face, "is going to pop up."

Before Rowen could protest, he added, "What good is there to watch it, huh? I don't want you to relive that trauma just because you want to see how bad it is. Trust that Esha and Uskaine know what they are doing."

"But what if there is something in his memory that could help reverse the effects," BE reasoned.

"If you are actually going to play it," the Mandorian said, "then I'm staying out of this room. I can barely sleep without Prussia's face intruding my thoughts, and I'm not willing to relive past memories." He turned to the Eternals and asked, "Is there any way whatsoever to bring him back?"

M:   Esha and Uskaine exchanged glances again, the latter dismissing the viewing screen since Johann's decision was quite clear.

"As we said, he is well beyond the point of no return," the centaur sighed, "at this stage, the only thing that can be done is complete memory erasing. Even if there was another option, it would still drastically affect his mind in one way or another, only by getting rid of the reason he cracked will his mind return to normal."

"The question is, will he be the only one to get his memories removed," Esha added, "there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it, he will remain insane until the day he dies if we do not remove his memories. We talked about it and figured that we would create false memories that say someone else challenged and killed Suebi, but we realized that it would be very unfair to Rowen and Johann if they remembered what Mandoria did."

"So, you're saying that they can choose to lose their memories and believe that Mandoria never challenged Suebi, or keep their memories, and forever live in distrust of Mandoria," Neflen summarized, to which his friends nodded.

"That is quite a decision," Rowen admitted, "I know what mine is, but I think that Johann is the one who should make the final call."

N:   Johann looked at his father, surprised by the decision, so he said, "I-I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to live in distrust, but I don't want to forget what Father can do-"

"Worrying about your safety isn't something you should worry about," BE reasoned, "if the reason for you to not wipe your memory is that you want to know what your father is capable of, then don't. Royal and I, and even your friends, saw what Mandoria can do, and we will keep it in our best interests to ensure that it doesn't happen again, but neither you nor Rowen deserves to live in fear of the person you love.

The Mandorian just stared at the floor, processing every single word, and it took him a moment to finally make up his mind. He turned to Esha and gave a solid nod, "I want my memory wiped, it's the best for all of us."

M:   Rowen nodded in agreement, "I already know that Mandoria is a fierce warrior, we've fought side by side on the battlefield before, I don't mind forgetting about one moment."

"So it's settled, we'll start crafting the new memories immediately," Uskaine declared, "we were thinking that the most believable one would be BE challenging Suebi, perhaps as revenge for what he did to England. It will take an hour or two to finish it so Esha will come get you when we're ready."

"Actually, I'd wish to stay here," Rowen said, kneeling next to the bed and holding his husband's hand, "I'd rather not abandon my husband's side, especially right now."

The two eternals nodded in understanding, then Esha asked, "Before you go BE, can I have my crystal back please, seeing as it wasn't needed."

N:   BE shrugged before digging into his pocket and pulling out the crystal along with the note. "I don't know what that was supposed to do," he said, "I doubt it was going to prevent what happened today."

Johann decided to also stay with Mandoria, and when Callum gave him a look of concern, he smiled a bit, as if to say that he was alright.

M:   "Honestly, it depended on what Mandoria did," Esha admitted, taking the crystal back, "I didn't think Mandoria would have been strong enough to take on Suebi, this was supposed to summon someone who was, but it wasn't needed."

"Who was it supposed to summon," Neflen asked, "a deity?"

"Perhaps, but that doesn't matter now, you guys do need to leave so we can work though," she dismissed, "it would be best that you inform everyone of the memory change so they don't get confused."

N:   They nodded and left the room, and once they had left, BE said, "So, let's split up and tell everyone."

Callum nodded, "I'll go to the infirmary, but Ricky was there to see Mandoria so it would have to wait before I could tell him."

With that decided, they of them split up to tell everyone about the change.

M:   It took a bit to find everyone who was involved with the situation, and even longer to wait to tell certain people, but they all agreed to follow along with the new story, no one wanted the Mandorians to be in such pain and distrust, so they would gladly lie if it meant keeping them happy and sane.

Once Uskaine had finished his work and the Mandorians all had their new memories, he had them remain asleep so their brains could "heal" from the procedure, knowing that they would be fine by tomorrow.

They weren't the only ones going through a change, Prudoria had been getting more comfortable with his surroundings.  Aside from BE, most everyone was rather nice and it was building up his confidence, so he decided he would finally leave the infirmary and take a look around. He still brought his feline bodyguard with him, just in case he ran across BE, but ultimately just wandered around and explored.