N:   Meanwhile, the named Scotsman was sitting in the infirmary, glancing angrily between the Frenchman and the Englishman in front of him, his arms crossed.

"Could the both of you," Scotland growled, "for once in your damn lives not fight."

England and KoF just glanced at each other, the former with a bruise in the center of his face while the latter had bandages wrapped around the top of his head, parts of it staining red.

"You have to be some god to make us not fight," England scoffed, side-eyeing the Kingdom, "and he deserved it."

"I was just peering around the library," KoF grumbled, "nothing that deserved a chair to the head."

"Like I said, you deserved it," which earned a facepalm from the Scot.

Scotland just shook his head before turning to when Esha walked into the room, his eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED, ORAIL?!" he yelled, which caught both KoF and England by surprise, "DID YOU GET YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE?"

M:   "No she just went on a murder spree," Uskaine explained nonchalantly, "some idiot humans captured and abused Sleipnir, then attempted to sell him. Esha didn't give us the details, but she came back with the severed head of the buyer and probably piked him somewhere."

Esha nodded in confirmation, there was no remorse or shame in her eyes, they were emotionless yet satisfied at the same time. She then took some papers out of her bag and handed them to the Scotsman, and although covered in blood, they were clearly the sell papers for her beloved Sigven.

"Keep your American brat away from my family," she growled, pointing to a part that said the buyer was going to give Sleipnir to the revolutionist, "if I see him so much as look at someone the wrong way, I will have no problem shoving his head on a spear just like his accomplice, and tell BE that he needs to crack down harder on his insurrection."

With that, she shouldered past Scotty and headed to the back to get decontaminated.

N:   Scotland just stared wide-eyed at the contract, looking up to England, who was equally as confused.

"America wouldn't do that," the Englishman asked, "right?"

"I can go and check now," Scotland replied, "he's down with Royal and see if this is actually true." Standing up, he glanced between the men before him, "No fighting while I'm gone."

"Of course," KoF scoffed, "we're not children."

The Scotsman side-eyed them before leaving, to which the Frenchman muttered, "Eat shit and die."

"Yes, you too," England frowned.

M:   Uskaine groaned at the Frenchman's words, he had about enough of this, so with a snap of his fingers, KoF's voice was taken away, symbolized by a yellow light orb exiting his chest and floating over to the centaur's hand.

"I've had about enough of your unnecessary comments," he grumbled, "if you have nothing appropriate to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all, not even British Empire has the mouth you do. So, you are going to remain muted until the ball, or until you learn to wash out that radioactive waste of a mouth of yours, at least then we can have some peace and quiet."

N:   All the Frenchman could do was turn angrily to the Eternal, miming out his frustration while England just snickered.

Meanwhile, Scotland was beelining down the stairs to the training room, rereading the contract to see if it was true. When he reached his destination, he was surprised by the crowd, and even more when he saw a battered Wren still dueling a slightly less battered Odrus, with America still seated in the hybrid's line of sight.

"Royal, could you check something over with me?"

"It's Wren," she yelled as she dodged a sword to the head, "and give me a minute."

M:   "She still won't accept defeat," Neflen reported, "it went from two out of three to 12 out of 24, and guess how many of those Odrus won."

"Yep, at this point I think most people here have been betting not on who will win, but how long the dual will last," Rowen said, having come down there earlier with Saxon to watch, "what was the record again, Nef."

"22 minutes," the eternal spoke.

"Well, if you need her, I can end this quicker," Odrus offered, he then lept forward to his opponent and shifted into a small elephant seal, squishing her under 300 pounds of blubber, causing everyone to laugh.

N:   The air in Wren's lungs was completely squeezed out of her, leaving her flattened like a pancake as she tried to wriggle herself out to freedom.

Scotland laughed as he walked over to Wren when Odrus finally got off, helping her up as he handed over the pieces of paper. "Esha gave this to me," he explained as she read it over, "she found out that that America was going to buy Sleipnir."

"But why would he," she muttered as her eyes laid on his signature, "but that's not-"

All of a sudden, her expression went stone cold when she realized what happened, to which she glanced over to America, who was looking at her with confusion all over his face.

"Everyone here is to leave this room immediately," she ordered, "and no one is to enter unless I say so. Bring BE over here and make sure that Canada stays the hell away from here."

"Why," Scotland asked with concern as the Brit kicked a sword over to America, who slowly reached to get it, "what is going to happen?"

"America and I are going to have a little chat, heart to heart," she dismissed, shoving the papers back into Scotland's hands, "and it is none of your concern." Turning to the rest of the crowd, she announced, "And if I hear any of you anywhere near here, you will meet the end of my blade, is that understood? Now go!"

M:   Most everyone heeded her warnings, knowing that she never made empty threats when it came to serious matters. Only the Eternals stayed behind, mostly because they weren't that intimidated by her anymore since Odrus could just flatten her, but also because they wanted to make sure that someone could step in before things got too out of hand.

Neflen snatched the papers out of Wren's hands to have a look at it, and after he scanned it over he tried to stop her from doing something dramatic.

"Woah woah, slow down Wren, we don't know if he even was after Sleipnir," he stated, "none of the French have seen him yet and they just got here, there is no way he would even know about him, it was probably just a coincidence that his servant tried to buy him."

"Sigvens were bred for war," Odrus commented, "it makes sense either way."

N:   "I know who fucking wants Sleipnir," Wren growled as she pointed her sword at America, "and he knows too."

America mumbled under his breath as he tightened his grip on his sword, staring at the Brit, although he seemed hesitant to move forward.

After a couple of minutes, BE entered the room, hearing the news from Scotland, and walked over to the weaponry on the wall and grabbed a musket, opening the barrel to see if it was loaded before snapping it shut.

"This is your last warning to the rest of you," Wren spoke loudly, "leave immediately because this a private matter; however," she turned to the Eternals, anger in her eyes, "if you wish, only one of you can stay to witness but you must swear to not utter to a single soul of what you see."

"And no recording of any kind," BE added nonchalantly, "and if you are caught doing anything, I have no qualms putting you to death, so, who would it be?"

M:   Neflen and Odrus glanced at each other, really worried about all of the weapons being pulled out, so after some deliberating, it was decided that Odrus should be the one to stay.

"I'm only here to make sure you three don't end up killing each other," he stated when Neflen left, "other than that, pretend I'm not here."

With that, the eternal walked over to a bench and sat down to observe, praying to the gods that he would not need to step in.

N:   America got into his fighting stance, and after a small pause, ran at Wren and initiated the fight. The duel didn't last long as the hybrid was superior; however, she knew she had to agitate him in some way, so she was much more aggressive in his fighting style, making sure to land every hit.

After a couple of minutes, the Brit slashed across the American's face and kicked him to the ground, and when he was lying down flat, she kicked his weapon away before laying her blade against his neck, watching in disappointment as the outline of a saltire appeared with stars inside it.

"Hey, Dixie, how you doing," Wren smiled, pressing her blade against the mark, "you're not too uncomfortable are you?"

"Am jolly good down here," the American replied with a smirk, "although your sword is getting a bit too close, hopefully Father can save me."

"Refer to me again, motherfucker, and I'll shoot you," BE snapped as he pointed his gun at him.

"Relax, relax, there's nothing to worry about," the other chuckled as he raised his hands, revealing his inky black fingers on one hand where she caused a cut in his glove, "Wren will totally do the job, won't you?"

"Did you try to buy Sleipnir," the Brit snapped, digging her sword in deeper, "and pretended to sign off as America?"

"I mean," Dixie shrugged, "if he could be useful to work for me, then it can't be too bad? Don't worry, I'll treat him good, like all the damn Indians back home." The secondary alter proceeded to turn to Odrus and give him a tiny wave, not afraid of the situation he was in.

M:   The more the fight went down, the more Odrus began to understand what was going on, and what was happening with America.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, Mr. Dixie, but the transaction just got denied," he said, holding up another piece of paper, "Esha sent me this while you guys were fighting, she said that she had rescued Sleipnir and slaughtered everyone in that horse dealership, including your lackey. She said she took his decapitated head and piked it in front of BE's room, is that correct?"

N:   "That is correct," BE nodded, "so you don't get away with it."

The American sighed, "Oh well, I had a chance but it didn't pan out, guess I'll need to find something to do while I'm here."

"You were given very simple rules to follow while you are here. One, you are to let America live his life while he is here, and two-"

"I don't go anywhere near Canada, I know," Dixie rolled his eyes as he pushed the blade away from his neck, "the little twat is gonna get himself killed anyway."

The last statement triggered the empire, so he came along and slammed the butt of his musket in his son's face, making his reel. "Don't you dare utter my son's name," he spat, "you're no son of mine and you will never be."

"Fine, if I'm so unwelcome here, I'll go," he grumbled, and while he covered his face, his mark began to disappear until nothing was there. Uncovering his face, America looked up in confusion, wondering why he was there, to which Wren sighed and helped him up.

"Don't tell a soul what you witnessed," BE spoke to Odrus, "very few people actually know about this, and I want to keep it this way."

M:   "I understand completely," Odrus said, "though if I may, just judging by his attitude and general aggressiveness, maybe we should put in a safety measure, just in case."

The eternal stood up and walked over to America, not giving him time to ask questions before he placed two fingers on his forehead. He muttered a spell and the younger country was put to sleep, Odrus catching him before he fell.

"I put the alternative personality under forced hibernation," he explained, "for the next century or so, Mr. Dixie can not manifest himself in any way, he won't be able to interact with anyone, including America, just like he's asleep. now there won't be any more incidents for the next hundred years, though I will have to renew the spell when that time comes or else Dixie will resurface.

N:   Wren was about to stop Odrus but it was too late, so he help the Eternal out and carried America in her arms.

"I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do," she muttered, "although I don't agree with Dixie, I wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up frustrated from being forcibly put to sleep."

"Who cares about that," BE spoke, glancing at his son, "we should be thankful because we finally have a way to suppress his secondary alter."

The hybrid winced at that statement, and in that moment switched so Royal was sent forward, who sighed at the comment. "I wouldn't be surprised if he were to Split in the next century," she concluded, "but at least Nada can be safe with Dixie gone." With that, she quietly walked out of the room.

"Where do you think you're going, Wren?"

"First of all, it's Royal now, you didn't watch your words and sent Wren away, and secondly, I'm taking care of your son," and with that, she was gone.

M:   Odrus winced at BE's words, and at the look on Wren's face when he said them.

"Yeah ... that was indeed a poor choice of words," he had to comment, "though I can't blame you, sometimes it's hard to remember that Royal is a hybrid and not someone who just has a split personality. Poor Wren, I just hope mine and Esha's project will work out, I'd hate for them to split and we lose one or both."

He stood there awkwardly, since Royal took America he wasn't sure what to do now.

"So ... you want to grab a drink, I know it's getting late but I think we all need one after the day we had."

N:   "Sure," BE shrugged as he returned his musket, "wouldn't mind having a pint or two after this. I would have said that we head out to town; however," he paused, "none of my people can see me out and about this late for a drink, I'm not a prince anymore.

"There's a small bar located just above one of the cellars so we could go there," the empire suggested, "what do you say?"

M:   "Why not, I'm not allowed to drink at The Unicorn, it will be nice to be the one drinking for once and not kicking drunks out," the eternal chuckled, "though maybe I'll make at least one drink, I'd love to see the look on your face if you tried Siren Seawater, your taste buds would never be the same again."

An amused thought came to his mind, "ok, real talk, how are you going to keep Canada from sneaking out to grab a drink, considering Royal and Ireland do it quite well, or would you encourage it?"

N:   "I am not responsible for Ireland's or Royal's actions," BE stated, "however, as for my son, I guess I don't want him to feel that he would have to sneak out to drink and that I'm fine with it. He's not a child and can make his own decisions; however, I would like to know when he does go out so he would be safe."

The empire shrugged and awkwardly smiled as he made his way out of the room, leading the Eternal further into the castle until they reached a small cozy room with a small bar, where a single bartender was cleaning the glassware.

Seeing that guests had arrived, he set the glass down and asked for their orders, and when that was done, quickly whipped up their drinks and had them on the table.

"What made you ask about what I would do about Canada," the empire asked curiously.

M:   "I don't know, it just popped into my mind," Odrus shrugged, "it was common to find people sneaking their way to the Unicorn, mostly grown men trying to avoid their wives, it was always funny when those said wives found them and dragged them home by their ears."

He swirled his wine around in his glass, taking a sniff and a small taste, humming in satisfaction, "Excellent aroma, Tannat grapes with a citrus aftertaste, possibly tangerine, it was aged for about 57 years in a cherry wood barrel that was not sealed properly, but the slight exposure to air had given it a faint taste of oak, most likely from another wine barrel."

N:   "You can guess all of that from just the taste," BE chuckled, "at this point, you rival my wife's taste for wine, and that woman knows her wine."

Taking a sip of his cider, the empire looked at it and sighed. "Thank you for what you did back there, with America," he thanked, "his split personality has been a real issue for a long while, and you just came along and made it much easier."

M:   Odrus pursed his lips a bit, "your welcome, I guess, but don't take pride in what I did. A split personality shouldn't be bottled up, they have every right to experience the world as their host does, I only did it because he did wrong and needed a time out."

He swirled his drink absentmindedly, "Esha and I are trying to figure out a way to forcibly split up a hybrid, but in a way that the two alters can have their own lives and not want to kill each other. We've been worried about Royal, every day she seems closer and closer to splitting, and no one wants to lose her or Wren, they're basically sisters, and the world would become a darker place if we lost them. Maybe, if we do figure something out, America and Dixie can be safely split, but I can't promise anything, it's a little hard when we don't know that much about hybrids, I just figured you would want to know."

N:   BE didn't say anything for a moment, his eyes unfocused as he stared at his drink, and only after drink in a large amount of cider and a couple of minutes did he speak.

"Dixie tried to kill Canada twice, and almost succeeded once," the empire said quietly, "once was during a war, and I trusted Prussia to watch over France while she was in house arrest; however, the abomination lead the devil straight to her chambers and for him do whatever he wants with her. If it wasn't for the soldiers nearby, I-I don't know what would have happened, and they reported how Dixie just had his baby brother in his hands and a large pot of boiling water nearby."

The empire chuckled to himself at the memory, almost in pity, "and somehow that didn't break our family until years later when they were teens and Canada was annoying him. America snapped and switched, picking up a piece of broken glass and stabbing him along with a punch to the head, and that day was when we learned of his nature. So, in short, if you do somehow split America and Dixie, I want the latter burning in hell."

When he had finished his drink, he refused to get any more as he just rested his head on the bar, his eyes closed, "and this is why I don't like drinking out."

M:   Odrus nodded along as BE explained, new understanding came with it for all parties.

"BE, have you thought about how all that affected America," he asked, "I've spent time with those boys, they are as close as brothers can get, and they both love each other very much, so just imagine America's horror at what Dixie, and by extension himself, was doing to his family. I have a feeling that you put the blame on him for stuff Dixie did in the past, the poor kid must have shattered when he found out, and I think, that may be a reason why he has a rocky relationship with you."

He pat the empire's shoulder, "Esha and I will work extra hard to free your son from his demon, trust me, I know how it feels to have someone else control your body to hurt the ones you love. But until then, try to put yourself in America's place, how would you feel if you were forced into the back seat and had to watch as you were made to do horrible things, wouldn't you lash out as well?"

N:   BE shrugged, "I guess that makes sense." He just sat there for a moment before sitting up and getting up from his seat.

"I hate it when the alcohol starts doing the talking," he muttered to himself as he walked past Odrus, patting him on his back as he did, "so I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Get a good night's rest while you're at it because you won't be able to in a couple of nights' time."

"And what about you, your majesty," the bartender questioned.

"A good night's rest is practically a foreign concept to me unless someone knocks me out," the Brit laughed to himself, "but either way, good night."

M:   "May Lord Yohr grant you a restful sleep, BE," Odrus said, "but before you go, don't tell Royal and America of mine and Esha's project, I don't want to give them false hope if it doesn't work."

The eternal stuck around for a little longer, making small chat with the bartender and teaching him how to make a few of the old drinks he knew, and taking the liberty to taste some of the wines that would be served at the ball, making his recommendations on which ones were the best for the occasion.

With that done, he headed to the infirmary to check on those who were there, only finding Mandoria sleeping in a chair next to his son, so he woke him up and sent him off to bed, doing the same soon after.

N:   Everyone decided to sleep in after the day before; however, a loud pounding echoed through the corridors, waking some people up.

Waking up with a start, Saxon slowly got out of bed and headed to the main doors where the source of the noise was coming from.

"You better have a good reason for being this loud, whoever you are," he yelled, and as he opened the door, he was temporarily in shook before a smirk stretched across his face, "good job, Lumière."

"Bonjour Monsieur," replied a blue and white insurgent, and leaning against the wall beside him was a passed-out Wald and Chrysalis, "I guess you want these two back, and of all the people you could ask, you call the one person who the Anglais and Alemands are against."

"Because I knew you would be the only one who had a chance of breaking into Prussia's defenses, and look at you," he pointed at the battered insurgents, "you did great."

The Frenchman scoffed, glancing at the crowd that has formed behind the entity, "Help me drag them in, it's been a long journey and I would very much like to relax."

"Surly, right this way."

M:   Only Esha, Rowen, and Mandoria were among the crowd, most everyone else was still sleeping, but the two Mandorians were shocked at the state their friend was in. Esha took the liberty of shooing away the crowd and telling one person to inform BE of the new arrivals, while the Mandorian couple helped the insurgents to the infirmary.

"Good lord, this is what they've been wearing in Prussia's imprisonment," Rowen said, examining Wald's collar, "these things are bulkier than any dog collar I've seen."

"I've seen something similar to this," Esha declared, "they were used by griffon catchers back in the day, the collar would hold a little vial with a tranquilizer in it, and the vials had a needle that would inject directly into the veins at a slow rate, that way the griffon would remain calm and safe while it was transported to a new nesting site. I guess these ones have a charm on them that prevents removing it, am I correct?"

N:   Lumière stood there quietly for a moment, confused by what Esha said, and the Eternal in general. "Eh ... oui. I tried removing the collars the entire time I was with them but it wouldn't budge. And seeing the state they were in when I first arrived at the stronghold was ... horrible to say the least."

"Well, it's a good thing that they are here so we can properly treat them," Saxon commented as he laid Wald in a bed, reminders of his constant abuse were as clear as day.

While the Saxon was checking on his entities, the insurgent noticed Prudoria and was observing him, and when the entity realized it, he asked the other to knock it off.

"He's an ... interesting country," the Frenchman answered, "with both the markings of Prudoria and Mandoria, he could weirdly be a way to bring peace between those two kingdoms," he thought for a moment before he looked away and chuckled, "but that would kick us insurgents out of our jobs, so it's a good thing he's staying in this sorry excuse of an island."

M:   "I honestly can't decide if that was a compliment or an insult," Mandoria said, "but considering everyone else's first reactions to Prudoria, thanks for being polite about him, at least."

While they talked, Esha tried her best to get the collars off, but the first time she tried resulted in a yelp of pain and a burn mark on her hand. "Son of a bitch, Prussia really does think of everything," she winced, "if I was a better, I'd say that these collars were enchanted to only come off when exposed to Prussian magic, and the only one who can take them off is in a partial coma, fantastic."

N:   "And that is your problem," Lumière shrugged, his arms crossed, "and Prussian magic isn't the nicest. I was able to get through his defenses pretty easily but getting out with these deadweights was difficult, and I'm sure that Prussia's security has multiplied tenfold since I broke in."

The insurgent hummed for a bit before adding, "Keep an eye on Wald," he pointed at the German, "he still had full vials when I got him and was pretty violent the entire journey, but him," he pointed at Chrysalis, "his vials were nearly empty but he was still hostile. I had to knock them both out before I landed here."

M:   "Well lucky for us, I have just the thing for that," Esha smiled, pulling a bottle of blue liquid out of her bag, "Prud helped me collect some of Aslan's venom and I think I got a decent antidote, the only downside is it needs to be given slowly and in moderation, I've learned from the mice that an overdose of this stuff can turn them into savage animals."

She called a nurse over and handed her the antidote, "Give these two about 2ccs of this every four hours for the next day or until it's empty, be careful though, they will still be a little aggressive for the next three days, but they will gradually calm back down to normal."

N:   The nurse nodded, "I'll get this done immediately," before hurrying away.

"Well it seems that you don't need me anymore," Lumière spoke, so I guess I'll find myself a room and rest," and when Saxon glanced at him, he added, "t'inquiète pas (don't worry) I'll be gone by sundown."

"Alright," the entity nodded, beckoning a servant, "the servant here will show you a room, and fair warning, France and KoF are here."

"They are," the insurgent smiled mischievously as he was led out, "this will be an interesting stay."

M:   "Oi, if you plan on making trouble you better tell me about it," Esha called after him, "after what King French Bitch said to me about women being independent I plan on kicking him in the dick so hard that all you men will fucking feel it."

"Oh my god, did he seriously give you that speech as well," Mandoria said from next to Prudoria, "he tried to preach that to my wife and left my kingdom without depth perception, she punched him so square in the eye that we all thought he was going to lose it."

Rowen had to laugh at that, then asked Saxson, "If Queen Zalia did that, how many times had Celtica beaten his ass?"

N:   Saxon nervously chuckled at the question, "See, things are different here. KoF has preached that many times to Celtica; however, instead of her beating the hell out of him, she calls Anglo over and has him do it instead. That man finds every excuse to decimate him and every time I have to be there to hold him back. More often than not, he has left with bit more than a concussion."

M:   The room was filled with laughter from that, everyone disliked KoF for one reason or another, it was good to hear that he got his ass handed to him and the one responsible didn't even get her hands dirty. Once the laughter died down, the group just kind of meandered around, though Rowen took it upon himself to let the Saxons know that Wald was there.

A little while later, Odrus came in, having heard that the insurgents had arrived, and he brought someone with him.

"See Thema, he's here, he's safe now," he told the spirit, "Esha has an antidote for the venom he was given, it will take a few days, but he'll be alright."

N:   The English insurgent just glanced at Odrus before turning to Chrysalis, slowly walking over to him and tried to hold his hand, but her hand passing through his reminded her of her ghostly state.

"I don't think he cares about me anymore," she mouthed, sitting beside the Scot, "he ... he wasn't himself while he was with Prussia, and it's my fault that he ended up there."

She turned to the Eternal, "I do hope that he gets better, but don't bother showing me to him again. The damage has been dealt."

M:   "Thema, you had no idea what would have happened," Odrus stated, sitting next to her, well aware of the confused looks he was getting, "Suebi was manipulative at his very soul, sure he kept his promises, but they were always made with fine print that no one can read."

He grabbed a box of tissues and cast a spell on it, to everyone else it looked like it disappeared, but he temporarily brought it into the spirit world so Anathema could interact with it, then he took one and gently dabbed her tears.

"He still cares about you, even if Suebi told Chrysalis what happened, his love for you wouldn't have changed," the eternal reassured him, "I promise you, once he wakes up and is made well, I'll let him see you again, and he can tell you that himself. I know him enough to know that the ones who earn his love he will remain loyal to, after all, he fought in your name for all these years, why would he stop now?"

N:   Anathema just looked at Chrysalis before blowing her nose, tears still running down her face.

"I don't know," she spoke, "I just feel like I failed him and I wouldn't blame him if he hated me." She rose her legs so that they were on the chair and hugged them, letting Odrus wipe her tears.

M:   "We all make mistakes, I now understand why you sold out England, so Subei would trade him for Chrysalis and he would be out of British hands," Odrus said, "you did that with your brother's best interest at heart, it was the people around him that made things not go the way they were supposed to."

He sighed sadly and looked away, "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine, I'm the one who attacked him, I made him shatter and it caused him to be easy prey, he probably didn't even fight back. I'm sorry for that, I have no excuse for my actions."

While they talked Esha slide up to Saxon and elbowed him, silently telling him to say something to Thema, anything that may help her feel better. Even if he wouldn't admit it, she knew he cared about his insurgents, why else did he rescue Wald and Chrysalis?

N:   Saxon sighed as he walked over to the pair, and since he couldn't see Anathema and her scolding face, he knelt down on one knee and stared at where he imagined she was. "I just wanted to say-"

"You beat the hell out of him," the insurgent spat, "tortured and shattered him. You have nothing to say to me."

After the entity listened to Odrus recounting what Anathema told him he frowned, "And tell me that you would have acted any differently. He broke the one rule I gave him and he brought someone I feared to the people I cared about the most. Tell me, wouldn't you do the same?"

When he didn't get a response, he continued, "Anyway, I didn't want to speak about that but about Chrysalis here. Even when I hated it, he was dedicated to you, and wouldn't stand if you were insulted or were used in vain. He loved and cared about you, and no amount of torture would make him believe otherwise."

Anathema bowed her head as her eyes filled up with tears, but she smiled, "You're nicer than Suebi, not the fake niceness he did, genuinely nice. You're a nice entity."

When he heard what she said, Saxon was stunned. "I hear feared entity," he commented, "merciless, calculating entity often, but a nice entity isn't something that comes often."

M:   "Oh dear, I think you bamboozled him," Odrus joked, "he doesn't get compliments often so hearing one threw him off guard."

"I guess that's the new strategy against Saxon," Esha chuckled, "first it was snakes, then it was Shen, now it's compliments, no wonder he always becomes flustered when Anglo gets flirty."

Odrus chuckled in turn, then gently pat Thema's shoulder in reassurance, "You don't need to worry about your brother forgiving you, after all, you're the one who told us he was captured, so if it weren't for you, he'd still be in Prussia, you remember that now."

N:   Thema hummed, or what you could consider a hum when you're mute. "I guess," she spoke, "and it helped save Wald too," she pointed over at the German, "it's hard to find nice insurgents."

Meanwhile Saxon was in the background, scolding with a slightly red face at Esha. "Don't you bother using compliments against me," he frowned, "it's just the unexpected ones that put me off, otherwise I'm fine."

M:   "Uh huh, sure buddy, just because your flag is red doesn't mean it conceals your blushing," Esha teased, "maybe I should go get your hubby and we can test out my theory."

Conveniently, Anglo entered the infirmary just as she finished that thought, as well as BE and Rowen.

"These two heard that the insurgents had arrived and wanted to check it out," the Mandorian explained, "and don't worry, BE is going to be nice to everyone, he owes me a favor for not telling Celtica about that drinking contest with Ireland and Scotland last month, which I just want to put on the recorded, he lost, hilariously."

N:   "I would like to put it out there that I'm not an avid drinker compared to my brother and dad," BE frowned, "so of course, they won, but not a word of it goes to Grandma."

"Yeah, sure," Anglo chuckled before turning to Saxon and frowning in concern, "Umm, are you ok, Saxon?"

"Ja, I'm fine," the entity replied a bit too quickly, to which the country raised a brow and turned to Esha for an explanation.

M:   Esha sidled up to Anglo and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "You see, Thema is here and Odrus was comforting her about Chrysalis, and when Saxon tried to as well she called him a nice entity, and it clearly stunned him. We got to talking about how compliments can be used to defeat the Head of insurgents, he said that it was only unexpected ones that do that. So I thought, how about we put that to the test, why not get the only other person that can give genuine compliments to Saxon and see how long he can last."

With that, she pushed Anglo forward with her tail and dramatically bowed, "Have at thee then, let the master show us how to tame the mighty Insurgent King."

Everyone was snickering at this, they all knew that Saxon got very fidgety when Anglo was being lovie-dovie, this was going to be interesting.

N:   Anglo stumbled a bit until he was right in front of Saxon, who was already nervously tapping his foot, and he turned to him and smirked, "Is that true? About the compliments?"

"Umm" was all the entity could say before he was hushed by the country.

"Don't worry," Anglo smiled as he gently placed his foot on the other's, making the entity stop tapping, "you can take compliments without having to be flustered, and we don't want to put the great Head of Insurgents through that, do we?"

Saxon adamantly shook his head, sighing a bit thinking he was free, but he tended up when the Englishman took his hand and gently stroked it.

"But even for your position, these strong hands are so gentle and careful," Anglo muttered, and his hand slowly moved up the other's arms, hushing the entity whenever he sensed that he had tended up.

"You really shouldn't pass up a compliment that comes by you," the Englishman noted, "because if someone were to say, oh well, that you are strong-"

"That's easy, I've worked out and," Saxon began but was cut off."

"-and felt safe in your embrace, what would you do?" To which the entity replied in incoherent mumbling.

Finally, Anglo's hands moved to the entity's face, cupping his cheeks as he stared into the other's eyes, and he could feel Saxon's face heat up at his touch.

"And those beautiful electric blue eyes," Anglo grinned, "where it is a storm and a calm sea at the same time. Remember before, when you're sclera we're white," to which the other slowly nodded, completely mesmerized by his husband, "well the black really highlights your irises and I could stare at them all day."

Saxon just stood there in silence, to which Anglo chuckled as he stepped away and bowed, "And that is how you tame the mighty Insurgent King."

It took a couple of seconds for the entity to snap out of his trance, and even then he was confused as to why Anglo was bowing.

M:   The people present applaud at the show, Odrus even saw Anathema silently clapping. Rowen was the only one who didn't applaud, he was too busy with the secondhand embarrassment since that was something Mandoria would do all the time, and he was just as much of a blusher as Saxon was.

"Uh oh, I think you gave Rowen flashbacks," his husband declared, "I hate to say that compliments affect him in the same way, perhaps we should give a demonstration?"

"No, please no, have mercy," Rowen chuckled, his face already turning red, "I already had to deal with our sons encouraging you, don't give the British any ideas."

"Nah, I'm satisfied with Saxon," Esha smirked, "it's never not funny to see someone so tough and intimidating become putty in Anglo's hands, one of these days we'll see him actually melt, I put money on it."

N:   "He sometimes does anyway," Anglo laughed, "he's my little melty baby."

He chuckled a bit more but suddenly yelped when he was pulled at the waist towards Saxon, who was still red but slowly recovering.

"Dear Anglo," he smirked as he brushed the other's hair out of his face, "you can't make me go through all that without a final gift."

"Was (what)," Anglo asked in surprise but was quickly cut off when their lips connected. In response, his wings fully unfurled, towering above them in the moment.

For what seemed like forever for the Englishman was only ten seconds, and when they were done, the country stepped away in confusion while the entity had a smirk on his face.

"You may embarrass me," Saxon said, "but you got to love a winged country's reaction when they are flustered."

M:   Esha was actually confused by the reaction, while everyone else laughed, but her confusion caused Mandoria to ask, "Wait, have you never seen a mating flare before."

"Can't say that I have," the eternal remarked, poking Anglo's wings suspiciously, "maybe it's because I haven't been much into the mating game, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen this happen before."

"It has happened Esha, you just never had any winged mates," Odrus said, "leather wing eternals don't experience it, or at least I think they don't."

While the others chatted, Mandoria felt his hand being squeezed a bit harder than yesterday, he turned to Prudoria and saw him struggling to open his eyes.

"Easy there buddy," his father hushed him, "don't push yourself to wake up, you still need rest, let your body decide when you can wake up, ok."

Prudoria seemed to hear him as he settled down, no longer trying to force his eyes open and just going back to sleep. It still broke the country's heart at how much effort his son needed to wake up, he just wished there was something else he could do.

N:   "Be patient," a nurse reassured the Mandorian as she walked past, "he needs time to rest, and he's already on the road to recovery."

The nurse then walked up to the bed Wald was in and pulled a chair up for herself. Carefully, she drew out a needle that had a small amount of antivenom in it, and she got a wet cloth and dabbed on the area of the insurgent's arm she would put the needle in.

When she was about to inject him, she yelled in pain as she felt an iron grip on her wrist, causing her to let go of the syringe. Looking down, she saw that somehow Wald had instinctively woken up, his purple eyes staring at her, and for a moment did nothing.

Suddenly, he twisted her arm, forcing her off her chair as he jumped up from his bed, his wild eyes glancing between everyone in the room before he tried to make a run for it.