M:   Mandoria just tisked at that, simply turning away and going back to his sons to make sure they were alright. Uskaine walked in too, mostly to apologize for bringing trouble to the family, but when Prudoria saw him he sat up and demanded, "Can you make me younger, or at least look like my actual age."

The centaur froze in confusion, not sure how to respond to such a question, "Uhhh ... I beg your pardon?"

"Make me look like I'm actually four," Prudoria reiterated, "everyone hates me because I look like Prussia, but if I were a child, then everyone would pity me instead, and that's much better than being hated."

Uskaine didn't respond, he still didn't know what to say to such an odd request, and even if he did, he didn't think he could actually do that anyway. The eternal awkwardly looked to the others in the room for help.

N:   "Pruds, do you really want to," Johann asked, rubbing his shoulder as he spoke, "If you were to look like a four-year-old, you would be way more mature for your appearance and people might question that. Even if you decide to be an actual four-year-old, you wouldn't be the same, and no child deserves to have the memories you have now."

The Mandorian sighed, "I know it sounds selfish but I like you the way you are, and you being an actual four-year-old will just be ... different. But I understand if you would want to look like one, children get passes that adults don't, so if it is the best for you, then I will support your choice for a happier life."

M:   "W-well, it could just be temporary," Uskaine said, finally finding his voice, "after Esha became Prudoria's new lifeline she and I did a bit of research about golems, and the creates can make them look however they want, though it does take a considerable amount of energy."

"Maybe so, but there are other factors at play here," Mandoria said, "Prudoria, I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't matter what age you are, people are still going to judge you. As a child, they may not do it out loud, but they still do it, it's the same with everyone. What you need to do is show everyone that you're not like Prussia, you shouldn't hide who you are. Pru, that flag of yours is not just Prussian, you are proudly wearing the Mandorian crest, just like me, even your wings are more similar to mine than they are to Prussia's."

The father softly cupped his hands on Prudoria's cheeks, wiping away a tear as he gazed at his son, "Don't let people define you by your flag or your age, let them define you by who you are on the inside, and if they don't like it, then don't give them your attention, they don't deserve it anyway, ok."

Prudoria started to cry a little, but no one could tell if they were happy tears or not, either way, he hugged his father, silently accepting his advice and deciding to stay as he was.

Uskaine smiled at the family, and whispered to Saxon, "Such an unconventional family; a human, a countryhuman, a Saxon, and a Prussian, yet I can't think of a better example of family in all the years I have lived."

N:   "A functional family is all anyone needs," Saxon whispered back, "a support system that you can lean on is what gets you through the day."

Meanwhile, Johann was patting Prudoria's back, "You had a hard start for the Yule celebrations, meeting the two people who might dislike you the most, but that's only because of Prussia, and like what Father said, you need to show that you're not like him. Hopefully, there are more people like Canada coming over here."

M:   Prudoria nodded in agreement, although he did have his doubts, here was hoping at least and he was willing to give it a shot. After a while more of hugging, a low grumble came from the group hug, causing Mandoria to laugh.

"I guess you're still hungry, huh," he chuckled, to which Prudoria nodded, "Well, let's get you some food then, everything's always better on a full stomach, that's what I say." He helped his sons out of bed and wrapped a wing around both of them, "maybe we'll find your Hezyka on the way there, unless he went to the stables in this freezing weather, may the gods help him if he did."

"You can't keep a rider from their horse I guess," Uskaine added, "I mean look at me, I loved my horse so much we fused together." that earned quite a bit of laughter from everyone.

N:   "Hezyka hasn't seen his horse for years," Johann spoke, "so it sort of makes sense."

"And what about you," Saxon asked, "have you been seeing Comet recently?"

"Comet and I are taking a little break," the Mandorian spoke matter-of-factly, "I've seen him every day for a month or so, and although it was great at first, I think he's getting sick of me showing up early in the morning. Also, I'm pretty sure he's jealous about how much time I spend with Gwyn and her horse."

M:   The others just chuckled at that, feeling that if they talked about Gwyn and Johann that it would result in the latter turning into a strawberry. As they headed back to the dining room, they saw Edel and England standing outside of it, each holding a baby, and when Mandoria asked about it Esha came out with Quinn and answered.

"We're moving Edel and the whelps to one of the private sitting rooms," she announced, "BE and FE came in just as Canada was playfighting with Quinn and she nearly had a heart attack. So since the dining room is clearly not very private anymore, we're moving everyone out for their safety, and per "Her Highness's" request. Damn these French."

N:   "Exactly," Saxon sighed with relief, "do you now see it, Uskaine?"

"I propose that rather we continue that thought," Johann jumped in, "that we go in and actually eat."

"You go enjoy yourselves," England waved as he carried Byron in his arms, "but just so you know, FE is still inside." He then turned to Esha, "Let's get these ones comfortable."

M:   Esha nodded in agreement, bidding the others ado and leaving to find the dragons somewhere else to stay. Prudoria was a bit nervous to hear that FE was in the dining hall, but he swallowed his fear, knowing that he was safe around his family. All the same, he still took an old broken pocket watch out of his pocket and clicked it open, a grey mist existed out of it and took the form of his manticore, still in disguise as a lion.

"Woah, a pocket dimension spell," Uskaine said in surprise, "how did you learn to conjure that?"

"You can teach yourself a lot when you're bored," the Prussian simply said, putting away the watch as he pet his companion, "I guess being isolated in a cell has its perks. Anyway, I think I'm ok now, let's go in."

Once Mandoria got the go-ahead, he led the group into the dining hall, making sure to keep himself in between his sons and FE.

N:   When they entered, they saw that FE was worrying over his son, checking if he was hurt while BE just sat at the dining table, a cup of coffee at hand as he only paid half his attention to the two.

Anglo was also there, having arrived earlier to see how Canada was doing, and he was doing his best to comfort the Frenchwoman. "Nada's fine," he smiled as he rested his hand on her shoulder, "the cubs are harmless and wouldn't hurt him."

"Well, next time please inform me before I stumble across a dragon, and one of its children fighting mon fils," FE replied.

"Mama, I'm fine," Canada sighed, gently freeing himself from her, "look, ai-je l'air blessé (do I look hurt)?"

When the empire finally gave in, Anglo patted Canada's back and motioned him to sit down, but his attention quickly turned back to the Frenchwoman, seeing as she silently eyed Prudoria. "France," he warned, "don't."

She gave the Prussian a once over before making her way to the table, sitting beside her son before glancing up at the Mandorians, "You better keep that over-sided cat away from my son."

M:   Aslan growled the minute he detected hostility, but Prudoria patted his mane to calm him down, and said, "It's ok, Aslan won't hurt anyone, he's mostly here to help me feel better since you're a little scary, Ma'am."

Mandoria placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, leading him to the opposite side of the others, that way both parties were comfortable. The winged kingdom was less likely to stand up to FE, he held more respect for her than her father, and they were actually friends back in the day, even if they started to have a little tension towards the end.

"I must say, it is good to see you again, FE," he said, "and I see how little Canada has grown since I last saw him. I'm sure you two remember Johann, right?"

N:   "How could we forget," FE replied, "he and his brothers decided to pull a small trick on us while we were visiting. What was it again, draping white sheets over yourselves and pretending to be ghosts, scaring the hell out of both of us, right?"

"Oh yeah," Johann awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I forgot about that."

"Don't worry about it," Canada dismissed, "it's nice to see you again, more mature I presume?"

"While still retaining the ability to prank," Anglo chuckled as he sat down, "I'll watch out if I were you, France, he's back at it and already has a number of pranks under his belt."

"So I guess 'mature' is too strong of a word then," she commented before turning her attention to BE, "and you, you look half dead."

"Dealing with anything French is exhausting," he muttered as he brought his mug to his lips, but was rudely interrupted as his wife snatched the drink from out of his hands, "Hey!"

"Maintenant tu m'écoutes (now you listen to me), Albion, you're going to have an actual meal and not live off caffeine, d'accord (ok)?" FE spoke firmly, pulling him closer so she could see his eyes, "And clearly you haven't been sleeping properly. Your eyes are slightly red."

"Goddamn it," the Brit grumbled as he moved her hands off his face, his agitation fuelled by his hunger and caffeine, "alright then, I'll eat, d'accord?"

"Bon (good)," she nodded as she placed a small kiss on his forehead, "don't be stupid."

Canada glanced between them in confusion, "are you too the paradigm of love-hate relationships or what?"

M:   "I believe the proper term is ambivalence," Mandoria suggested, "it basically means that you simultaneously love and hate someone. I don't think I have ever been in that kind of relationship, there have been a few alliances that were similar to that."

While everyone else chatted, Prudoria mostly kept to himself, he didn't feel comfortable speaking, he was worried that he would say something that would really piss off the French. He had his head laying on his arms and mostly avoided eye contact with anyone, though at one point he turned one of his utensils into a silver baby raven and started petting it.

N:   Canada just watched Prudoria pet the raven, curious about how he was able to do that, so he asked, "Where did you learn to do magic? Mom usually tells me not to go near it but it's really interesting."

"It's not that I tell you not to go near it," FE corrected, glancing between her son and the Prussian, "I just feel like it's a power that we shouldn't wield."

M:   "You're right about that," Prudoria murmured, still not looking at anyone, "people these days definitely shouldn't have magic. The eternals were responsible with it, only using it when needed and trying to shy away from using it for their own gains. People now only use it to gain power and hurt others, doing whatever they can to gain more of it. I wish magic died out with the eternals, it would have been better for all of us."

Mandoria and Uskaine winced when Prudoria said that, it hurt them that a magic-made person wished magic gone forever, it hurt Uskaine most for many reasons, causing him to quietly leave and go elsewhere.

"Prud, you do realize that you're alive because of magic," Mandoria tried to remind him, "you wouldn't even exist if magic was gone."

"Neither would you, Father," the Prussian sighed, "besides, would it really be that terrible if I wasn't here, would the world stop spinning if I cease to exist? I think it would move faster if I wasn't here, no one would miss me, and I'm sure Mrs. FE would be happier anyway."

N:   "Honestly, your existing has added nothing to my life," FE spoke firmly, "and it is just another piece of information that I've learned, but only when do you become a nuisance do I wish that you were not here."

"Mama," Canada frowned, "isn't that a bit rude?"

"C'est vrai (it's the truth)," she shrugged, "my life doesn't revolve around a Prussian boy." She turned back to Prudoria, "And what you said about magic makes no sense. I don't know much about it, but I know nature since I work with plants to heal my people. Just because you don't like something in nature, something like magic, you cannot simply wipe it out of existence. Everything around us is interdependent and interlinked, like how people dislike spiders but they help regulate fly populations. Magic works on the same principle; so many things depend on it that you cannot just remove it."

M:   "Except they don't anymore," Mandoria sighed sadly, "Magic is a thing of the past, FE, what we see is just the lingering remnants of a different world," he glanced over at the sleeping Askad, "a better world. But at the same time, we do need to protect what little of it we have left, and that includes those that have magic running in their veins, that includes you Prudoria, you have every right to exist, no matter what people think of you."

Prudoria didn't respond, he was deathly silent, but what worried Mandoria the most was that the silver raven was no longer moving and seemed dead. The winged country lifted his son's head to check his eyes, and slumped in his seat to see they had shattered again.

"Pruds, don't do this again, please don't give up," he said, on the verge of tears as he pulled his son into a hug, "you're stronger than this, don't give in to the darkness, I know you can fight this."

"Maybe, but I don't want to fight it anymore," Prudoria murmured, "what's the point anyway, if people just want to drag me down, why try to climb up."

The Prussian slipped out of his father's arms and announced that he wasn't hungry anymore, quietly leaving the dining room, as well as his heartbroken parent.

N:   Johann quickly looked between his brother and father, and after quickly deciding what to do, jumped out of his seat and ran after the former. "Prudoria, wait," he yelled before disappearing out of the hall.

"You have to give him some space," Anglo yelled back at the Mandorian, but he knew it fell on deaf ears so he sighed, "It's just the same when he tried to help Derogan."

"What happened," Canada asked, confused about what was going on, "why did they leave?" Once BE had explained the concept of shattered eyes, his shoulders fell, "I shouldn't have brought up the topic, I'm sorry."

M:   "It wasn't your fault, Prudoria is very fragile right now," Mandoria murmured, wiping his eyes and trying to act strong, "he just came out of a shatter today, I should have known he needed more time to heal, I shouldn't have thought it would go away like nothing happened.

The country buried his head in his arms and let out a defeated sob, "I'm a horrible parent, my son just escaped a life of rape and torture, but I'm not able to help him at all, I just make it worse."

N:   "You have definitely been helping him, Mandoria," BE responded while Anglo went around to comfort the Mandorian, "even if you don't see it yourself, then let me say that the rest of us definitely do."

"Don't blame yourself," Anglo continued as he patted Mandoria's back, "you can't predict the future, so don't blame the actions you did the past. You did everything from a good heart, and you took care of Prudoria as a good father should. That is what you should remember."

M:   Mandoria didn't raise his head to acknowledge Anglo and BE, though he stopped his sobs and just let out a tired sigh, not really knowing what else to do.

Meanwhile, Prudoria was just trying to get away from Johann, he didn't want his brother's comfort, he just wanted some alone time. The Prussian was able to dodge Johann for long enough to grab some winter wear and headed outside with Aslan, where he dropped the manticore's disguise and mounted him. Johann came running out and grabbed Prudoria's arm before they could take off, but was knocked into the snow by his wings.

"Leave me alone, I just want some time to myself," he snapped at his brother, "I'll come back eventually, right now I just need to go somewhere where I don't feel like a fucking worthless waste of space!"

With that said, the Prussian gripped onto Aslan's mane and nudged him to go, so the feline jumped into the air and flew away, into the direction of the forest.

N:   Johann just sat in the snow in shock, watching as Prudoria disappeared into the air, and after a couple of moments, the realization hit.

"Why can't I do anything," he yelled, angry with himself, as he buried his head in his hands, "why does this happen to me? Every. Single. Fucking. Time."

The Mandorian heard the crunch of footsteps in snow, and when he glanced up, he had a mini heart attack when he saw the black figure, thinking it was a certain Prussian, but quickly realized it was Wolfgang in a large coat.

"He needs time to himself," the Saxon stated, "people who need help approach others, not the other way round."

"But I am useless," the Mandorian muttered, "I'm surrounded by people who can outlive me, who can fly and do ten times better whatever I can do, and I'm probably just a blink in their existence. I don't know how Hezyka feels, but I definitely do."

"We'll see," the Saxon frowned as he stretched out his hand for the other to stand up, "you can know how he feels when you ask him yourself. I'm pretty sure there are spare coats in the stables; we don't want you catching a cold a couple of days before the ball, do we?"

Johann sighed as he accepted the help, standing up and slowly following Wolfe back to the royal stables.

M:   Rowen had been in the stables for about an hour by then, he was tending to Star Dust as she had become slightly ill, though was expected to come out of it soon. He was currently laying out some fresh hay in her stall when Wolfie and Johann came in.

"Hello there boys, what brings you guys here," he said cheerfully, "last I checked you two only came here on Wednesday and Sunday."

N:   "I found your son here sitting in the snow," Wolfgang explained while Johann was slightly shivering in his gifted stable coat, "yelling to himself while Prudoria was flying away. Clearly," he glanced over to his friend, "he needs to see you. Also, he has a question for you, don't you Jo?"

Johann frowned that he was told to ask but sighed anyway, "Hezyka, do you- do you ever feel useless when you're around Father and Mandara and Derogan and Prudoria?"

M:   Rowen didn't answer at first, he was trying to understand what was just said to him, he had to have Johann explain what happened before he could give a response.

"Truth be told, sometimes I do feel a little ... insignificant, compared to Mandoria," he admitted with a sigh, "not just because he was a countryhuman, but also because of how beloved he was by everyone. He was a prime example of how a king should be, his kingdom standing longer than most empires, and being his spouse does make one feel rather small."

The Mandorian leaned against his pitchfork, looking down thoughtfully, "I will admit, back home, sometimes I would lie awake at night and wonder why I was there, what role I was supposed to play in a family of ageless beings, and what would become of me when my time does come. Then, I turn in bed and look at my loving husband, and I realize that life is too short to dwell on the bigger picture, even for countryhumans, we should be living in the moment, not in the past or the future."

Rowen then chucked as he thought of something, "do you remember that time we had that really bad rainstorm where it rained for three days straight, Mandara spent most of the time hiding in the closet because he was scared of the lighting, and he would only calm down if you came in to sit with him. I don't think you were useless then, quite the opposite actually, so don't think for one second that because you don't live forever, means that you aren't worth something, I think it just means that you should treasure every moment you have left."

N:   "But that's the thing," Johann replied, "I'm useful when I can help someone; anyone, because it means that I'm actually worth something in this family, but if I do nothing, what am I?"

"You do know that you are worth more than the people around you," Wolfgang pointed out, "you are your own worth."

"Nein," the Mandorian replied family, "if I can't do anything then what's the point? I'm just a kid who somehow ended up in a castle, but I could have easily done nothing, but nein, I want to help, to be useful, but if I can't, then what's the point of it all? I'm supposed to be Prudoria's big brother, but I can't do anything to help him."

M:   Rowen pursed his lips, he set the pitchfork aside and took his son into his arms, patting his back in reassurance, "Johann, not everyone is going to need help all of the time, but that doesn't make you useless. If you ask me, useful is not something that should be used to describe a person, it only makes people want to satisfy others and not take care of themselves. Don't strive to be useful, it will only leave a void in yourself that can't be filled, instead, strive to love yourself and others. Sometimes people in pain just need some time to themselves to sort things out, let them come to you when they want company."

He lifted Johann's chin to look him in the eye, "Useful is not a word that describes you, you are far better than such a bottom-of-the-barrel label. Brave, kind, smart, that's what you are, so don't let such a hollow word distract you from who you are, can you do that for me?"

N:   "Ja whatever," Johann muttered dejectedly, not looking right at his father, "but it's kind of hard when your whole life you wanted to be useful."

Silently, he pulled himself out of Rowen's embrace and walked away, and when Wolfgang asked him where he was going, the Mandorian answered, "Hezyka can guess where I'm going," before making his way back to the main compound.

Watching him walk away, the Saxon shook his head, "I don't understand, Jo wasn't like this when he was a kid. The little Johann wouldn't have a care in the world, spending any time he could as a time to do whatever he wants; would only really help out if his Mutter and Vater told him to." He turned to the Mandorian, "Was he like that when he was with you?"

M:   "Wolfie, you have to remember those three years spent under Prussia's hand," Rowen reminded him, "no, he wasn't like that with us, but Prussia took pride in making us feel worthless, trying to train us to think that we have no use other than to pleasure him. Whatever Prussia did to you, he did much worse to us."

The Mandorian picked up his pitchfork and continued to work while saying, "Johann went to the eastern town, he goes up there for some quiet time. Maybe go get Erna, she seems to be the only one who can get through to you boys."

N:   "Maybe," Wolfgang nodded as he waved goodbye to Rowen and walked back to the compound to find anyone who could help him.

Eventually, he did find Erna in the library, and beside her was Gwyn, and the pair were quietly chatting until the Saxon interrupted their conversation. "Good, the both of you are here," he spoke quickly, "come follow me."

"We're not your servant," Erna frowned, crossing her arms, "why should we follow you?"

"Jo needs help."

The pair didn't wait for him to explain further, ushering him out of the library and telling him to show them the way, running through the corridors towards the eastern tower.

Johann guessed that Rowen was going to direct someone to him, so when he gave the clue, he deliberately lied so he could hide somewhere else.

The Mandorian was lying down in bed in his room, now that Gwyn was staying, he moved out of his parents so he could stay with her. With curtains drawn and the gloomy winter sky, faint shadows stretched across the ceiling and he stared at the figures.

Registering that someone was running past his door, he guessed who they would be. "I'm a damn hypocrite," he ruefully chuckled as he covered his face, "a hypocrite who helps others but refuses help. There's no point being useful if I'm useless."

M:   Mandoria was walking by as the three ran past him, although confused, he thought nothing of it. He was heading to his own room to clear his mind when he noticed Johann's door was closed, that was odd, his son usually left the door open to let people know he wasn't there.

The country gently knocked, "Johann, are you in there, I thought you went after Prudoria."

N:   Johann initially jumped at the sound of Mandoria's voice, not expecting anyone to actually be nearby, but he sighed and replied, "Prudoria flew off, going who knows where."

Turning in bed so that he was on his side, his back to the door, he continued, "Although he did say he was going to come back so you don't have to worry about him."

M:   Mandoria was at first shocked by the news, but it worried him more about how indifferent Johann sounded, he knew his son, he would have raced after Prudoria, so why didn't he? The country slowly opened the door to peek in, and when Johann gave no reaction, he stepped inside and sat on the bed facing the door.

He gently rubbed his son's shoulder in comfort, "Do you want to talk about it?"

N:   Johann initially didn't respond, only registering Mandoria's hand on his shoulder as he stared blankly at the wall.

After a while, he turned his head slightly and asked, "How do I stop wanting to be useful without feeling useless? All I wanted was to help, but if they don't need it, I just feel...powerless and insignificant. How can I stop feeling that?"

M:   Mandoria opened his mouth but no words came out, he didn't really know the answer to that, no one had asked him that before. He had to think about that for a few minutes before he came up with something.

"Well, does a fork stop being useful when someone is not hungry," he asked, "does a saddle lose its worth when its horse is not wearing it, or does a wheel become pointless when its cart is not carrying goods? You don't stop being useful when someone doesn't need help, you just got to let them come to you. And you don't need only one way to be useful, there are many things that you do that benefit others. And even if they don't, don't worry about them, sometimes you got to put yourself first before you can help others, even I know that, you know?"

N:   Johann hummed before turning back to the wall, thinking about what Mandoria said.

"I guess," he finally answered, and after a minute he added quietly to himself, "Why did Prussia invade us? Everything was simpler back home."

M:   Mandoria again was silent, like even he was trying to figure that out, then he sighed loudly and collapsed on his back, staring up at the ceiling as he thought about it.

"I honestly couldn't tell you anymore," he muttered, "back then, I would have said it was because he would have used the King Wing position to take control of the world. But as the years went on, and more winged countries started to reject his rule, the reason became less obvious. At the end of the day, King Prussia is just too unpredictable; banishing his son, resurrecting his rival, and creating another son with his rival to use as a sex slave, I don't think we can ever hope to understand what goes on in that sadistic mind of his."

N:   "I try to understand Prussia," Johann responded, "when I get nightmares about him, I always wonder why he did all he did, but I could never get the answer." The Mandorian chuckled a bit, "But it is hard to imagine it when I imagine him in a way that would make it less of a nightmare. Hezyka taught me that I could imagine him in a costume, but after a while, it didn't stop him from chasing me so I just imagine him dead now."

Turning around, Johann lay on his back with his hands interlaced on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. "Father, am I being too violent," he asked, "there are some days when Prussia doesn't even pop up in my mind, but there are other days that I hate him so much that I wish I can curse him to the same hell he put us through. Killing him won't be enough."

M:   "Trust me, you're not the only one," Mandoria admitted, "what we went through can change anyone, most people would never think I could have I'll intentions towards someone, and before my defeat, they would have been right. But now, I do wish that Prussia would get what he deserves, and often I too dream about his punishment coming from my own hands."

N:   "How do you deal with that anger," Johann asked, "I'm scared that what I'll feel would be redirected to someone else. A couple of months ago, I was this close," he raised his arm, pinching his fingers until there was a tiny gap between his forefinger and thumb, "to really hurting Alaric if Wolfe didn't stop me. Sometimes I want to hit something, but I don't want to hurt anything."

The Mandorian laughed at himself, "I feel I'm bombarding you with questions, es tut mir leid."

M:   "Johann, you haven't stopped doing that since you were a child," Mandoria chuckled, "I'm used to it as a father of four sons. As for the question, find a way to channel that anger into something positive, I remember how my wife made me keep a swear jar when Derogan was born, I'd have to put a copper piece in for each time I swore. Nowadays, if I get angry or frustrated, I play a game of chess with Saxon, that man is exceptional at strategy and reading the minds of opponents, but lord help him when he has to play chess. He makes these amusing faces when you surprise him with a move he didn't see coming, same thing with England and BE, their reactions always puts me in a good mood."

N:   Johann grinned at the thought of their surprised faces, "then I should race Wolfgang more on horseback. He's terrible at racing and I always win."

"Don't you dare spread slanderous words about me behind my back," Wolfgang snapped as he stood in the doorway, "also, how come you're not in your tower? Rowen said that you would be there."

"I lied," the Mandorian shrugged but soon he was smothered in hugs as Gwyn rushed towards him and embraced the man.

"Are you ok," the Welshman worried, "Wolfe mentioned that you weren't yourself, then we began to worry when we couldn't find you-"

"Don't worry," he smiled, hugging her back, "was just talking to Father and I guess I'm better now."

Gwyn's eyes widened in surprise, raising her head until she saw Mandoria lying right in front of her. She didn't register that the country was there when she entered the room, and she suddenly felt nervous seeing her boyfriend's father there.

"Was I interrupting something, I'm so sorry if I was," she apologized, slowly disappearing behind the bed, "I can go if you want."

M:   Mandoria laughed at Gwyn's reaction to him, "No, you're fine, we were just having a chat about how to handle feelings, typical father-son stuff."

He sat up and stretched a bit, fluffing out his feathers before he sat up, "I should go anyway, I got to tell Anglo that Prudoria wanted some alone time, because if BE finds out then he will have all our heads. I'll see you kids later, be gentle with my little Finzenda, Gwyn, he's always been a softy."

With that, and a ruffling of Johann's hair, Mandoria headed off to find Anglo, the only person he trusted to know about Prudoria.

Anglo was hidden away in the archives, a large basement filled with important documents, books, and pieces of the past, and he decided to take a trip down memory lane.

With a half-finished lantern by his side, he flicked through a journal his father used to keep, one of the few things he was able to retrieve from when he was younger. Reading the paragraphs, he smiled at the mentions of himself and his mother, slipping out of reality as he reimagined himself back home in the European mainland.

He was quickly snapped out of his dream when a guard called for him, and when he asked what was needed of him, the guard replied, "Mandoria asks to see you."

Realizing that Brits were the only people who could gain access to the basement, he understood why the Mandorian was locked out, so he nodded, "You can lead him to me," to which the guard saluted and left, leaving the Englishman buried back in his past.

M:   When Mandoria was led into the basement, he first took a moment to marvel at the collection before him, he knew many countries who kept archives of their past, even he had a small one back home, but never had he seen one so vast.

Once he was done with his gawking, he walked up to Anglo and respectfully cleared his throat so the country knew he was there.

"Hello Anglo, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm afraid that Johann informed me that Prudoria had left the compound's grounds," he said, "he said that Prudoria was riding on Aslan and they flew away, he did say that he would return, but I don't know when that might be, or even where he went. I recall BE's strict restrictions concerning Prudoria leaving, not to mention what he sentenced my son to earlier, you're the only one I can trust at this point to not kill him."

N:   Anglo slowly took in the information, standing up from where he was sitting and closing the journal shut. "BE will find out, sooner or later, so it's only a matter of time before he does something," the Englishman spoke, "so what we should do now is to find Prudoria and bring him here before anything worse happens."

Packing all the things up, he placed the book into a labeled box and flew up into its designated slot, and when he had landed, there was enough dust circulating that he started coughing. "Let's head out of here, shall we," he wheezed, "I swear, this archive needs a deep clean once in a while."

Preparing their coats to head out, Anglo asked, "Do you have any idea where Prudoria could be?"

M:   "I doubt he even knows where he was going," Mandoria stated, worry evident in his voice, "he's never even been outside of the grounds since he got here. He must have been truly desperate to do something so reckless."

As he thought about it, he remembered that Esha had a connection to his son, so maybe she could help them find him. He vibrated his wings to call her to them, simply saying that Prudoria ran away, but when she came running she had also brought Royal.

"We're going to need as many wings as we can get," she explained before anyone could question it, "I may have the connection but don't know the exact location, just that he's about a good 5 miles north from here, I don't know how the hell he got there with a bad wing, but a storm is supposed to be blowing in any minute so we got to hurry."

N:   "Wait, Prudoria is gone," Royal asked in surprise.

"Not a word to BE," Anglo replied sharply, "let's find him as soon as possible." With that, they all got their winter coats and headed out, immediately taking off toward the forest in the north.

Eventually, they reached the point where Esha could tell that Prudoria was near, but as long as they couldn't see him with the trees blocking the undergrowth beneath, they decided to land.

"Let's split up," the hybrid suggested, touching down gently in the snow before pulling up the collar of her coat, "we could cover more ground that way."