L

Germany had been hoping that, after the disaster at the park and in the silence of the car now, they would forget what was in the museum. Then Mandara spoke and that hope was dashed away. Germany had no doubt that Mandara was referring to Mandoria's Crown. 

 Germany tried to justify himself. "After my Vater cut off ties with your country, we never thought of contacting you for anything. The crown was old too so we kept it as a symbol of the Prussia-Mandorian War. Plus, when we found it, our nations weren't exactly reconnected at the time either."

M

Mandara sighed, "I see" He couldn't argue with that logic, but he did ask one more thing. "And what would you have done if Thunder and I left without knowing that our fathers crown hadn't been destroyed by Prussia, would you have returned it, or would you have kept it in that museum, next to a plaque that wrongly accused a noble king of being a tyrant."

L

"On a different occasion, perhaps another visit, I would've returned it," Germany said stiffly. "There are many procedures involved with taking an artifact from one of our oldest museums. Especially since, for lack of a better way to say this, we won that war. As for the plaque..." Germany hesitated. "I know you are a good person Mandara and so is MA, despite what happened. I know because I've met you, but I have not met your father. That plaque was written by scholars in the aftermath of that war, and although you are free to stand by your views of your own father, I will not argue with the scholars of my country's history." 

 Wehrmacht frowned at Germany's answer. Iremacht, on the other hand, seemed content with it; he took it as an indication that he was free to stand by his admiration Prussia as well.

M

Mandara couldn't believe what he was hearing, Germany more or less said that he wouldn't return it, and to add insult to injury, he said that he trusted Prussia's scholars rather than some one who lived during that time. 

 He found himself tearing up again, "O-oh, I see how it is, it's just like Wehrmacht said, all you Germans care about is yourself. Not only are you saying that you would kept my father's crown just because you 'won that war', but you would rather listen to human scholars who were getting their information second hand, then listen to someone who lived his whole childhood with Mandoria." 

 Mandara sat in the same position that he did on the roof earlier. "We never should have come here, it would have saved us a lot of pain" He muttered under his breath.

L

All three Germans in the car could tell how upset Mandara was. Wehrmacht hesitated, before uncertainly extending one black wing to nudge Mandara's in what he hoped was comfort. 

"Germany, victory or not, the Crown belongs to Mandara," Wehrmacht tried to persuade his nephew. "Now that we've reconnected with his country, we should start the procedures of removing and returning the Crown as soon as possible. Mandara is our trading partner now. We should be setting a positive relationship." 

 "You don't need to tell me what we should or should not do, Uncle," Germany said. Then he peered at Mandara with an emotionless expression. "You and your brother were supposed to leave in two days after MA recovers from his previous injuries. He was shot today, but my doctors will patch him up quickly. I estimate he will regain his strength in time for your departure. Since it will take longer to negotiate, remove, and return the Crown to you, it will be delivered to your country." He added, with emphasis, "After you leave."

M

Mandara looked up at Germany with doubt in his eyes, after everything he just said, he didn't believe that he would keep his promise. 

"I want to believe you Germany, but after what you said, I just don't trust that you will keep your word. For all I know your gonna make a copy of it and send us a fake just so you can keep your 'trophy'." He hesitated before adding, "sometimes I wonder if this country has changed at all in the past two centuries."

L

Wehrmacht winced at that and retracted his wing. True, their history wasn't pretty, but they were trying to make amends. His nephew's tone wasn't helping. 

 "I promised you on the roof that we'd give you your Crown back," Wehrmacht reassured Mandara. "And I swear on my wings we won't trick you. If you can sense it from my feathers, I'm not lying." He glanced at Germany and murmured, "I'll see to it personally that the procedure is finished and the Crown is delivered. Why would we risk jeopardizing a newly forged trade deal over an artifact that doesn't belong to us?" 

 By then, the car had eased up the driveway to Germany's estate and parked in the garage. 

M

Mandara glanced at Wehrmacht, he was still hesitant about trusting the Germans, but the fact that Wehr swore on his wings did make him feel better, so he nodded to say thanks. When the car pulled into the garage, Mandara slowly got out of the car and stretched his wings before turning back to the others. 

"Well, I'm sorry that today went haywire, and that you got hurt Iremacht. If you need me I'll be in my room." 

He walked to the door that led into the estate, halfway dragging his wings when he stepped inside.

L

"Germany, I need to talk to you," Wehrmacht said as soon as Mandara had left. "I want to know exactly what happened that made MA that angry." 

 Iremacht knew his cousin would probably lie to Wehrmacht. He had the authority to. It didn't sit well with the teen, however, that someone would lie to his father. 

Since he didn't want to stick around for this conversation, Iremacht piped up, "Dear cousin wouldn't tell MA about the Crown." 

 Germany's eyes widened and Wehrmacht instantly shot him an accusatory glare. Iremacht didn't see anything else because he'd darted out of the garage. He decided to head to Mandara's room.

M

Mandara was busy wrapping up the bite wound that he got from MA, it was slightly difficult since it was on the upper part of his right arm, but after years of doing it to his lower arms, he got the hang of it. Once he was done, he lay down on his side on the bed, hugging one of the pillows and softly cried to himself again. This time he wasn't only crying about the crown, but he was crying because he was worried about MA, and that he made the stupid decision to come here rather than be with his brother, like he did for him all those years ago.

L

Iremacht crept upstairs and found the guest rooms. He wasn't sure which one was Mandara's though so he ended up knocking on each one, softly calling Mandara's name. When he finally reached the right one, he didn't need to knock. Iremacht pressed his face closer to the door and heard the quiet crying. Now he wasn't sure if he should intrude. He felt bad leaving Mandara all alone though; so many things had gone wrong for their guest today, from being dunked in water to the Crown at the museum to MA's Militant Madness. 

 Iremacht took a deep breath and knocked. "Hey Mandara," he said timidly. "It's Iremacht. Can I...May I come in? I promise I don't have any water buckets this time."

M

Mandara stopped crying when he heard Iremacht at the door, He didn't know why he was there, surely the kid had better things to do, but called back to him that he could come in. Mandara didn't bother siting up or standing to greet Iremacht, he was too tired from the emotionally straining day.

L

"Thanks," Iremacht said when Mandara let him in. "I didn't want to listen to Dad and - " He broke off when he saw Mandara laying in bed, hugging a pillow. The look in his eyes confirmed that he had been crying before. Iremacht stepped awkwardly into the room and sat down on a nearby chair. "Do you..want to talk about it?" Iremacht offered. He'd learned that it was always nice to have someone to vent to. 

 Downstairs and still in the garage, Germany had finished his explanation - and admitted to lying since Iremacht had ratted him out.

Wehrmacht was yelling at his nephew, "Were you seriously considering KEEPING the Crown? You KNOW it's theirs. We have no right to it even if we did win!" 

 "The war was centuries ago!" Germany retorted. "That Crown has become as much part of OUR history as it was Mandara's. In fact, Prussia had that Crown longer than Mandara!" 

 "Because Prussia ROBBED Mandara of his right to the throne!" Wehrmacht shouted back.

M

Mandara shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know that there is much to talk about." he said quietly, "I just learned that my fathers crown wasn't destroyed by Prussia and my brother went feral when he learned about it, how could it get more blunt than that."

L

Iremacht rubbed the back of his head nervously. Mandara was right for the most part...except MA hadn't gone feral because he knew about the Crown. Iremacht suspected Wehrmacht and Germany were having a conversation about it downstairs, so he decided to bring Mandara up to date as well - it was only fair. 

 "Actually, MA doesn't know that the Crown is in the museum," Iremacht explained. "He got mad because...Cousin lied, sort of...and things got super tense between them and escalated from there. Germany never told him about the Crown and said that you must've seen the big paintings of Prussia and that's what made you upset." Iremacht glanced at Mandara. "But you ran out of the museum because you found the Crown, didn't you?"

M

Mandara's eyes widened at this new information, but he nodded at the kid question, "Yes I did. The last time I saw that crown was over two centuries ago, when I watched Prussia snatch it from my father's dead body, and how he placed it on top of his own head as some sort of cruel joke. You have no idea what it's like to find something that belongs to your dead father in the country that you just became allies with."

L

"I still can't believe Prussia would do that," Iremacht whispered. "He was supposed to be a mighty warrior, the strongest aerial flyer in history. None of the books around here mentioned him being a dick." Iremacht paused in thought, then said, "Hey, do the history books in your country mention Prussia? I want to see what the text says there, especially the military history part. Unless that's classified."

M

Mandara raised a brow at Iremacht, "Of course they say he was great, this was his country. That's the thing about history book, they are bias to the countries they were made about." 

Mandara sat up so he could explain to Iremacht better, but he was still hugging his pillow. "Let's look at the relationship of America and UK. If you read American history books, they will say that the United Kingdom were oppressive rulers, and that the Americans fought for their independence. But if you look at UK history books, they say that the Americans where traitors to the crown and that their fight for independence was foolish and selfish." 

He took a breathe before continuing, "The books here only praise him because this was his country, but if you read any book about countries and kingdoms that Prussia had conquered, they will always tell him for who he really is, a monster."

L

Downstairs, Wehrmacht was done talking with Germany; he didn't even want to see his nephew's face anymore. 

 "I'm going to call the museum," Wehrmacht growled. "Since you've given your approval, you don't need to get involved in the process." 

Then he marched out of the garage to find Iremacht because he didn't want to stay in this estate any longer. Since the first floor was empty, he guessed Iremacht and Mandara must be upstairs. So he located Mandara's room and found the door slightly open. 

 "Iremacht, we're getting out of here," he said, peeking into the room and seeing Iremacht on the chair and Mandara hugging his pillow. Wehrmacht toned down the anger in his voice. "Hallo Mandara. I'm starting the process of returning your Crown...if you want to call the hospital to see how MA is doing, the nearest hospital's phone number is in the phone book on the desk."

M

Mandara nodded, "Thank you Wehrmacht, for everything." He turned back to Iremacht, "It was nice meeting you today, I'll be sure to send you some history books when Thunder and I return home."

L

"Thanks, I want to see what other countries say for once," said Iremacht. 

 Wehrmacht and Iremacht left Mandara's room and exited the estate without bumping into Germany. As they walked home, Wehrmacht asked his son what he was talking to Mandara about. 

 "I told him that Germany lied about the Crown to MA," Iremacht explained. "And then we talked about Prussia. Mandara's going to send me history books from his country so I can see how cruel Prussia is." 

 "Why are you obsessed over him?" Wehrmacht asked. 

 "You know I like history. And it's not like you warned me about anything. You let me keep believing he was great," said Iremacht. 

 "It's your belief," Wehrmacht sighed and they made it home.

M

When Iremacht and Wehrmacht left, Mandara when to the desk and grabbed the phone book so he could call the hospital. He found the right number and dialed it in, a woman's voice answered. He told her who he was and that he was checking if his brother was ok, she said he was still in surgery for his bullet wound but should be coming out soon, and that Mandara was welcome to go there and wait for him. Mandara thanked her and hung up, he then changed out of the clothes that Wehr gave him earlier into his own, and went downstairs to tell Germany that he was leaving.

L

Germany had locked himself in his office mainly to avoid Wehrmacht or Iremacht. Only when he was sure that those two had left did the German come out of the room to make himself a cup of coffee - he realy needed it. Germany was on his way back to his office when he saw Mandara coming downstairs. 

 "Hallo," he said. He kept his voice emotionless and detached and stood awkwardly sipping his coffee. 

M

Mandara stopped, "Oh, there you are Germany, I just wanted to tell you that I'm heading to the hospital to be with Thunder, I probably won't be back for an hour or two." 

 Mandara paused for a second when he realized that the hospital was a bit of a ways away. 

"Hey, is it ok if I borrow one of your cars, I'm afraid I hurt my wings a long time ago and they never completely healed. I can't fly long distances without wearing them out, and the hospital is a bit of a distance away."

L

Germany wordlessly fumbled through his pockets for a key and gave it to Mandara. 

"Take the red Porsche," he said. Then he went back into his office, eager to avoid any more awkward conversations. As he sat at his desk, it made him even more uncomfortable when he remembered Mandara was his newest trading partner. 

 "How had it come to this?" Germany muttered to himself.