M:   "Well, I don't want to keep you from your home any longer than you already have, I'm sure your family is already worried about how long you've all been gone, but I do think that you should stay at least until King Mandoria wakes up. I will have one of our falconers send a letter to someone in the British family to let them know of your delayed departure, is there anyone in particular you wish to receive the letter?"

While the adults were talking, Mandara snuck away to grab Johann, "hey, let's go to Father's room, I need to see him."

N:   Saxon thought on it, "Perhaps Celtica is the best person, there is a higher chance from the rest of the family that she will not come here. But knowing her, she's going to pester me forever about this situation, not being able to leave a kingdom." He noticed that he was rambling so he clarified, "Celtica, the Former Head of the Insular Celts, is the best person. Could we also tell her about the 'England Situation' since being the mother of Scotland and the grandmother of British Empire, she's the best to tell them."

By the door, Johann agreed, "sure, let's go." He followed the prince to where the King's room was.

M:   "Of course, and you have my word that you, Anglo, and England will get to leave as soon as the king recovers," Rowen assured Saxon, he paused for a second before adding, "I don't know if I should be saying this, but Derogan believes that you are the cause of all this misfortune, saying that you are cursed, so I think it may be in your and Derogan's best interest that you talk to him and try to dispel whatever tension may be between the two of you."

———

Mandara led the way to Mandoria's room, dodging servants and knights who were still confused about what they were supposed to do now that their king was injured. When the kids came up to Mandoria's bedroom door, the two knights standing guard denied them entry, saying that he was in no condition to have visitors.

"But I need to see him," Mandara begged, "I need to see that he's ok, please let me see him."

The knights were hesitant about letting the children in but eventually decided that they couldn't cause too much trouble, "alright, you can see him, just don't do anything to disturb him." one of them said.

Mandara nodded in understanding and went inside when the knight opened the door for him. He tentatively walked up to his father's bed, the king was laying there motionless, even though his body was covered by blankets, Mandara could still see the bandages wrapped around Mandoria's forehead, wings, and arms.

"Father," he said quietly, taking a hold of Mandoria's hand as tears ran down his cheeks, "Father, please wake up, please don't die."

N:   Johann followed Mandara, looking at the king. He couldn't believe that the majestic person who he first saw when he arrived at the kingdom was the same person lying in front of them.

"Your father is not going to die," he said, placing his hand on the prince's shoulder, trying to comfort him. But when he saw his tears, he turned him around and hugged him. "Listen to me, Mandara, your father is not going to die," he said firmly, "it would take a lot to separate a father from his sons; he is just sleeping."

He held Mandara at arm's length, "he's going to come back, ok?"

———

Saxon nodded, "Thank you, and I'll try my best; however, it depends if Derogan will listen to me." With that, he spun around and made his way out of the throne room and straight to the princes' room.

When he arrived at the room, he saw that Derogan was covered in bandages, and Anglo finishing up the bandages on the prince's wing. At first, the entity was confused as to why Johann and Mandara were not in the room, but he brushed that aside as he entered the room.

Anglo watched as Saxon casually walked into the room, pulled the chair next to Mandara's bed up to Derogan's, sat down, and crossed his legs. Confused by this behavior, Anglo asked, "what did Sir Rowen say?"

"Just about what happened with the Prussians and to watch out for any unwanted visitors." He then turned to the prince.

"So, Derogan, I'm cursed. Want to elaborate?"

M:   Derogan stared cold and hard at Saxon, "yes, you're cursed, ever since you came here it has been one disaster after another, everyone here has been or is hurt, and look at you, not even a scratch. The reason you're cursed is without a doubt because of Saxony, mass genocide is something that would definitely get the gods' attention, so they cursed you, and rightfully so. When you die I hope your soul rots in the same pit of Jastrem that Prussia does, because you truly are just like him."

The prince turned his head away from Saxon, clearly not wanting to talk to him.

———

Mandara didn't answer, he just sniffled and sobbed, unable to speak. He turned away from Johann back to his father and climbed up into bed with him. He curled himself around Mandoria's arm and spread his wing across his chest, continuing to cry like Johann wasn't even there, because Mandara decided that he wasn't going to leave his father like this, no matter what.

N:   Johann sighed, and sat in an armchair in the room. He couldn't blame Mandara; he was in his position and acted the same way. However, his mood was dampened nonetheless seeing the prince like this and that he couldn't help.

If he is only sleeping, he thought, then there could be a way to wake him up.

"Mandara," he said softly, "could you use your wings to wake your father up?"

———

"I was damned to wherever Prussia is going way before he was even born," he chuckled crudely, leaning back in his chair, "I wasn't even born an entity. I was going to be a country, a kingdom, head of the Saxons, but my damn father had to go and die." He stood up and walked towards the window, resting his arms on the windowsill, "my 'father', the previous Head of Insurgents, taught my sister and myself the 'ways of being an insurgent' as he calls it. Stealing is fine, he says, lying is great. Killing is for the strong, and eventually, I agreed with it."

"Until you met me," added Anglo, although his tone was somber, "and yet I wasn't able to do enough."

"Oh well, so then my father died, and some god or something decided it was ok to make me the Head of Insurgents," he turned around and walked to Derogan's bed, on the side he is facing, "you can't change my nature, and frankly I can't either, but I am not having the hatred you have to me to seep to the rest of my family. My curse is only mine alone. What do you want me to do?"

M:   "I think no such thing to your family," Derogan grumbled, "I know that the British and even the English are nice people, Sir Wales is part of Father's court and British Empire is our ally, I have no ill will to them or Anglo or England, you on the other hand, well, if I could move right now I would strangle you for the harm you've brought us all, especially for the harm you've brought to Johann. He depended on you yet you took away his family, his home, and his entire life, how can you expect me to find pitty in your sob story when you can saunter around here with him and not even bat an eye."

———

Mandara raised his head to Johann when he suggested that, then looked back to Mandoria and started to vibrate his wings, praying that it would work and his father would wake up. Alas, he vibrated his wings for minutes on end and no noise or movement came from the fallen king, making Mandara's cries louder and even more heartbroken.

"Don't leave Father, don't go like Mother did, we have no one but you, please come back!" he wailed.

N:   "I am not going to justify genocide and murder, and I know the guilt and shame I have will not bring any of the Saxons back from the dead. I have no qualms with you if you are fine with my family. But please."

Saxon scoffed, "of course, you have no ill will against England or British Empire: they haven't done anything against you. Let's just forget what the English have done in the rest of the British Isles, and let's not start about the colonies British Empire has all around the world. You knowing me gives you a small taste of what the world is like, under all the silver and gold."

———

Johann slouched into the chair. He felt bad that he gave a false sense of hope and only made things worse. Eventually, he got up and approached Mandoria, feeling bad. Ever since he had met the King Wing, he admired his large wings, so making sure he didn't touch the bandages, began to pet them.

To help Mandara move his thoughts away from Mandoria, he asked, "what was your mother like? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I could tell you about mine as well."

M:   Mandara sniffled a little before answering, "-I don't know, I never met her, Father said she died after giving birth to me, but he and Derogan talk about her a lot so I know that I wish I knew her, but I don't so I cherish Father even more."

He buried his face in Mandoria's arm again, "do you think you can try to bring Derogan here, he needs to be here too, just in case Father ... in case he doesn't ..." Mandara trailed away, not wanting to even think about that possibility.

N:   Johann nodded and silently took his leave. He quietly and quickly sped to the princes' bedroom, wondering what to say about Mandoria, and remembering that he needs to tell Derogan the news. However, once he opened the door and saw Saxon, he guessed that he probably told him.

"Sir Anglo, will Derogan be able to get up?" Johann asked as he made his way to the prince's side.

"I doubt it, why do you ask?" He had just finished bandaging up Derogan, and if he had worked any more, the prince would have looked like a mummy.

The boy turned to the prince, "Mandara asked me if I could bring you to Mandoria since he thinks ... he might not make it." His voice started to shake a bit, "I tried to help your brother but he needs you, and seeing him hopeless makes me feel hopeless. Your brother needs you."

M:   Derogan's previous bitterness and anger towards Saxon shattered and was replaced by worry and despair.

"Of course, I'll come," he said simply, he asked in Mandorian that the servant, who was watching on the sidelines, grab him a new tunic since his other one was damaged.

While she was rummaging in his wardrobe, Derogan tried one more time to pick himself up into a sitting position. It still hurt to move and he was vocal while doing it, but he fought through the pain and was able to sit up. The nurse asked him something with a look of concern, he nodded and she very carefully helped him put on his tunic, he would wince as she did this but no longer let out any noises, trying to hold them in now.

Once his shirt was on, he very slowly stood up, his legs weren't hurt so he was able to stand with relatively little pain, though his wings fell limply to the floor since it hurt to lift them. Derogan stood there for a minute to make sure he kept his balance, but when he tried to walk he stumbled a little into Johann's arms.

"A-actually, I-I think I m-might need some help," he muttered while trying to bite his tongue from letting out any painful noises.

N:   "It's alright, I got you," he wheezed when he suddenly took on Derogan's weight. Since the prince has hollow bones, his relatively lighter weight allowed Johann to adjust himself so he could support Derogan better.

Slowly, they left the room and made their way toward Mandoria, and when the guards stopped them, Johann reassured them that they would not disturb the king. When they entered the room, Johann asked, "where do you want to be?", since he was helping Derogan around.

M:   He didn't answer right away, he was busy staring at his father's motionless form in bed with Mandara lying with him crying, it felt so unreal.

"With Mandara, please," he simply asked, when Johann complied and brought him over to the side his little brother was on, he got a better look at the extent of Mandoria's injuries. He let go of Johann and leaned on the bed for support, placing a hand on Mandara's shoulder, "brother?"

Mandara sniffled and looked at Derogan, his eyes red and puffy from crying, "h-he w-won't wake up, D-Derogan. H-he won't a-answer me."

"Mandara, he just fought off five Prussians, you can't expect him to wake up so soon after that," Derogan reasoned, he motioned for Mandara to sit up, he did and Derogan gave him a comforting hug, "he will be ok, he promised us that he will always be here so he will, you just have to trust him right now, can you do that little brother?"

Mandara kept sniffling for a bit as Derogan tried to reassure him, and eventually nodded, burying his face in his sibling's shoulder, "y-yes, I-I can do t-that, I-I'm j-just scared for F-Father."

"I know, we both are, but he will make it, I swear on my wings that he will wake up, you just need to give it time."

"O-ok, I w-will."

N:   Once he was sure that Derogan ok, Johann returned to the armchair, watching the two brothers as they hugged. He began to just look around the room, trying to distract himself as he waited for Mandoria to wake up. The minutes that they waited for felt like hours for him, and since he didn't know about swearing on wings, didn't know the significance it had.

Eventually, he too started to lose hope, so he hugged and wrapped his arms around his legs. "You guys are lucky to be with your father if he does go," he muttered, burying his head.

M:   Mandara and Derogan looked to Johann, they knew what he meant by that, he had his parents taken away from him so he probably didn't get to say goodbye to them. Mandara scooted off the bed and walked up to Johann.

"Well, I'm sure your parents would have been glad that you didn't see them die," Mandara said, sitting on the chair next to his friend, "if you were there when they were killed then you would have to live with that image for the rest of your life and I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted that." He wrapped a wing around Johann, "your parents never left you, even if you can't see them they are still here, they wouldn't leave you behind, no parent would."

He pulled Johann into a gentle hug, "you're not alone anymore, Johann, you have us, Rowen, and even Father now, we're your new family, but never think for a second that your old family is gone, they never left, and neither will we."

N:   "T-thank you," Johann stayed in his embrace, "and it's funny that I was the one trying to help you, yet you are doing a better job than I did." He glanced around the room, imagining the ghost of his parents looking down at him, smiling and happy. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and sighed.

"I think it's about time that we have some food," he let go of Mandara, "since you probably want to stay here, I'll try to find some snacks from the kitchens and sneak them in here." Quickly scanning the room, he found a sack which he decided he would use to sneak the food in.

M:   "The servants would bring up food if we asked," Derogan said, "but it probably would be a good idea to leave so Father can rest, we can always come back later."

Mandara scrunched up his face, he didn't really like the idea of leaving, "can we camp out here for the night, I don't want to leave him for too long."

Derogan pondered on Mandara's proposition and eventually nodded, "I don't see any harm in that, we will have to sleep on the floor though so we don't hurt him."

"Deal," Mandara agreed, "I wonder if the English will be joining us, I also hope that Sir England is doing ok."

N:   Johann reached for the door, but when he heard that the English could join, he froze. "I-I will ask Sir England if he wants to come when I come from the kitchen, but I don't think that Sir Saxon would want to join because reasons." With that he rushed out of the room, trying to focus his mind on the task at hand.

When he arrived at the kitchen, he asked the servants for snacks, and when they gave them to him, they were confused when they saw him stuff them in his bag. So that he doesn't raise any suspicions, he hurried out of the kitchen, the sack slung across his back. Along the way, he asked a servant where England could be, and when he got the directions, headed to Anglo's room.

England, bored out of his mind, was lying down on the bed, throwing and catching a scrunched-up piece of paper with his non-injured hand. When he heard a knock, he allowed the person in. Thinking they were Anglo, said, "I know I was being irresponsible, Fa, and I should have listened to you. You don't need to lecture me."

"Umm, I'm not here to lecture you, Sir England."

England shot up and looked at who was at the door, and sure enough, it was Johann. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were- never mind. What can I do for you?"

"I was thinking if you could join the princes and myself to camp out in Mandoria's room," he slightly lifted up his bag, "we have snacks."

England thought about it. Although he wasn't able to clearly see Mandoria before, he guessed from the panic and the crowd that he had been severely injured by the Prussians; however, his parents were a problem.

"I would go but my fathers basically grounded me in this room: Fa because of my shoulder and Faeder because of my behavior," the country stood up and got off the bed, "but I can take care of my shoulder and screw whatever Saxon says, let's go."

Johann smirked at England's defiance to Saxon, so he led the country to Mandoria's room.