L

Wehrmacht positioned himself at the front of the group as they made their way out of the storage room. If anyone was going to attack, they'd have to go through him first. That would give the Mandarian brothers extra time to either escape or put the Crown in a defensible area. 

 As soon as they emerged out of the storage room and into the main museum, several guns clicked in front of them. 

 "HALT!" a soldier shouted amongst the dozens of troops lined up in the museum lobby.

M

Mandara yelped and instantly ducked behind MA, who immediately drew his gun, MA knew that he was out matched, so he focused on shielding his country as best he could. 

 "Bundeswehr, call them off, if they fire then that is declaring war on us." MA said, completely ignoring that keeping a militant entity hostage was also considered declaring war.

L

"Hold your fire!" Bundeswehr and Wehrmacht yelled at the same time. 

They blinked at each other. Bundeswehr, out of habit, prepared to back down to his mentor but Wehrmacht gave him a subtle nod. The former militant stepped aside to let Bundeswehr have the floor. 

 "Um, hold your fire!" Bundeswehr repeated. He was aware that he didn't look very commanding with his hands tied but he steeled his voice and continued, "There's no need to be hostile anymore. We're going to Germany's place to settle all of this." 

 The soldiers shifted nervously. Both of their militants had just given them direct orders. They were torn between obeying and sticking with the original plan. 

 They decided to obey. The guns were lowered and the path to the museum door was cleared. A few soldiers headed out to make sure the press wasn't around.

M

MA breathed out in relief and too lowered his gun, he looked behind him to check if Mandara was ok, which he nodded to say that he was, but he still stuck close to MA out of fear. MA decided he would lead the rest of the way, he nodded for Wehr to follow him as he lead everyone outside, keeping his head held high and his hands behind his back.

L

The red Porsche was parked where it was originally left. Wehrmacht was about to point out to Bundeswehr that he should've noticed the car was still there and deduced that they hadn't left the storage room. But it looked like Bundeswehr also came to that conclusion just now. The young militant dipped his head at yet another oversight that led to his failure. 

 "Hey," Wehrmacht murmured, putting a gentle hand on Bundeswehr's shoulder. "You've done great already. It was a good idea to bring someone armed with you when doing a retrieval mission. Plus they brought reinforcements, which would've helped you win." 

 "But I was caught," Bundeswehr mumbled. "Held hostage....it wouldn't have mattered because my soldiers backed down." 

 Wehrmacht sighed and removed his hand from Bundeswehr's shoulder. He said to Mandara, "You have the keys right? Let's hurry to Germany's place."

M

"I do, I just you can fit in the car considering your wings are larger than mine and Thunder's." Mandara said. 

 When the four of them got to the car, Mandara handed the crown to MA so he could drive, and after he was sure everyone was settled, he made his way to Germany's estate. 

 At one point Mandara asked Wehrmacht, "You don't suppose that Germany has any surprises in store for us when we get there, do you?"

L

"We've all been victims of Iremacht's pranks," Wehrmacht chuckled humorously. "I think we can handle any surprises my nephew has up his sleeve." 

 As the city sped past, Bundeswehr grew increasingly fidgety. The idea of seeing Germany, of solidifying his betrayal, haunted him. His heart beat like a drum in his chest. Since Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr were both in the back seat, Wehrmacht stretched out his wing to nudge Bundeswehr and offered a reassuring smile. 

----------

At the estate, Germany sat calmly in the living room couch. The TV was on but it wa smore like background noise. 

 Another figure sat on the couch opposite of Germany. He was tall and had humongous white wings that took up the whole couch. His skin was light blue and the intricate symbol on his face was white. Both of his eyes were pitch black.

M

Mandara hummed at the mention of Iremacht, he couldn't shake the image of the kid glaring at him when he and MA accused Ireland of taking the crown. 

MA sensed his brothers guilt and rubbed his wing against Mandara's reassuringly, "I'm sure he will forgive us Trigger, it's just going to take some time." 

Mandara smiled in thanks at MA and the two fell back into silence for the rest of the ride. After a minute more of driving, Mandara pulled into the garage of the estate, and immediately felt his feathers vibrate. Mandara looked at MA for confirmation, MA nodded that he felt it too, and because they knew how to determine who a winged country is by their vibrating wings, they both knew who they were feeling. 

Mandara turned to the Germans in the back, "Guys, United Nations is here."

L

Wehrmacht perked up at the mention of UN. That was the one full-time entity that the German was comfortable around. He lightly pushed Bundeswehr to the front of the group; if there were any ambushes stationed inside, they wouldn't be able to attack if Bundeswehr went first. 

When Germany heard the front door open, he turned off the TV but did not get up from his couch. There was a reason why he called UN here. To a degree, it was for protection. And on the other hand, no one could smoothen international relations like UN could.

M

Mandara and MA followed the Germans inside, MA was carrying the crown but he kept it in the bag just in case. Oddly enough, MA was ever so slightly nervous about seeing UN, because he tended to be intimidated by countries with larger wing then his own, but when it came to UN it was a respectful intimidation. Once inside, the brothers immediately spotted UN and Germany on the couch.

"Well then, looks like you two were expecting us, huh." Mandara said.

L

"Not until a few minutes ago," replied UN. He had a deep and clear voice, but he spoke with an air of soft clamness. The entity rose from his seat and held out his hand. "Greetings, Mandara. MA. Wehrmacht. Bundeswehr." 

Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr both nodded in turn. Germany was watching Bundeswehr, noting that his hands were tied. Bundeswehr met his gaze only briefly before looking away. The German country's lips pressed in a thin line. Betrayal. Disapproval. 

 UN waved his hand gracefully towards the remaining couches and sofas. "Please. Have a seat."

M

Mandara and MA did as told and sat down, but MA shot Germany a glare as he passed him. 

Once comfortable, Mandara is the one that spoke first again, "Well, I sure you aren't only here to make Bundeswehr a militant, assuming Germany has already told you about our 'custody issue' that happened about half an hour ago." 

 Mandara tried to hide the anger from his voice as he said that, though the faint glowing in his eye was giving him away.

L

UN flicked his wings in affirmation as he settled back on the couch again. Wehrmacht made sure to keep his own wings slightly lowered in an act of respect for the King Wing in the room. 

 "He has told me," UN said, "that situation seems to have escalated out of his control. Hence, he has enlisted my help on the matter. He has already told me his side of the story. Now I wish to hear yours before I make any judgements."

M

Mandara nodded, "Three hundred years ago, my father The Kingdom of Mandoria, was the king of our country and as a symbol of his leadership he wore this." Mandara gestured to MA, who then took the crown out of its bag and held it out so UN could see it clearly. "Well, he was going to retire and hand over the crown and the throne to me, but three days before my coronation, The Kingdom of Prussia had challenged Mandoria to an aerial duel for the right to the throne. He defeated my father in fair combat, that I will admit, but back in those days, if a winged kingdom defeated another in a aerial duel, they were not permitted to take the losers crown or sword, as those were meant to go to the next of kin. But Prussia being Prussia, ignored those sacred rules and took the crown for himself, so despite him winning the battle, the crown did not belong to him nor does it belong to his descendants, it belongs to Mandoria's next of kin, myself and Derogan."

L

UN considered Mandara's tale for a few seconds. He clasped his hands together in front of him. 

"There is a clash of tradition here," he finally said. "The Kingdom of Mandoria and subsequent Mandarian kin run on the custom of inheritance of crown and sword. The Kingdom of Prussia and subsequent German kin run on the custom of winner takes all." UN paused to let that sink in as he chose his next words. "Your two nations have been estranged for quite some time. The Crown of Mandoria has resided in Prussia's vaults all these years. With the passage of time, one could argue that the Crown has become Prussia's possession." 

UN looked at Mandara. "But it has only been uncovered by Germany in the past few years. As Prussia did not pass away by Germany's hands, the custom of winner takes all does not apply and the Crown cannot be considered Germany's. As it has only officially been in Germany's hands for those allotted few years, precedent states that is not enough time for the Crown to fall under Germany's jurisdiction either." 

UN then looked at the German country and continued, "Neither can it be considered Mandara's. Though the custom of inheritance stands, the Crown has been out of Mandara for over a century, perhaps two. Thus, ownership over it has also been worn away with time."

UN sat back against the couch, surveying each face in the room. 

"With both customs eroded," he said slowly, "there only remains the interest of the trade deal you have both recently forged. Keeping this in mind, it is for the sake of your future collaboration that you must find a peaceful means to settle this dispute. The question I pose to both of you then: Is the Crown worth the war?"

M

Mandara blinked in shock at UN's last words, and MA growled in the back of his throat. Mandara patted MA's shoulder to calm him before turning back to UN and Germany.

"Back in the museum, my brother and I swore on our wings that we would not declare war on Germany, I intend to keep that promise but under different circumstances, I'm afraid I would have to say yes. I watched Prussia kill my father with my own eyes, and I watched him take that crown from him before his body was even cold. After Prussia banished us from our home, he made sure to destroy everything related to Mandoria, the only surviving artifacts was his sword that Derogan managed to take with us and the crown, which I had only just discovered yesterday had not been destroyed. This crown is the only other thing left of Mandoria's existence, and I would do anything to bring it back to the country it belongs to, and if that means severing our newly formed connections, then so be it." 

Mandara then looked Germany dead in the eyes, "I'm sure you would do the same thing if we had something belonging to Third Reich or Wehrmacht."

L

"On the contrary," Germany said stiffly. "I wouldn't. My past isn't something I want returned to me." 

 Wehrmacht kept a straight face when his nephew said that. He had to agree, to some extent. 

"But to answer your question," Germany said to UN, "a pety crown is not worth a war." 

 Next to Wehrmacht, Bundeswehr breathed out a sigh of relief. 

 "Then you have the answer to your dilemma," said UN. 

One side was willing to go to war. The other was not. Germany leaned back on the couch and dipped his head in acquiescence. "It is his to take."