M: "I think that is a great idea," Mandara declared, "we should help Saxon get over his fear of snakes, but the right way since using them to scare him will just strengthen it."

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea," Derogan said, "I think one of the knights has a pet snake she got from a trader, we can ask to borrow it to help Saxon get over his fear."

"I'll go ask, you guys just tie Saxon down so he can't run away," Mandara joked, then ran off to go find the said knight.

N: When he heard that they were going to bring in a snake, Saxon tried to make a run for it when Anglo caught him just in time. The winged country grabbed him by the shoulders and forced the entity to sit down, and wherever the entity tried to get up, Anglo would push down.

England crouched in front of his struggling father and smirked, "I do wish that everyone back home were here; they wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Everyone would talk about it non-stop for the next century, that's what will happen," Saxon said through gritted teeth.

M: "I know I will," Derogan whispered to Johann, nudging him with his elbow, "but think of it like this Saxon, if your enemies find out your weakness is snakes, then you would be tormented with them for the rest of your life, but if you get over your fear of snakes then they can't use that against you," he reasoned.

N: Saxon thought about it, "that does make sense," and began to relax a bit.

"See," cheered England, "you are slowly getting there," but then they started to hear footsteps in the corridor.

Panicking again, Saxon tried to get up, "Ich komme nicht in die nähe. Nein, soweit wird es nicht kommen (I'm not going near that. No, not going to happen)," he yelped. Eventually, England had to help his father keep Saxon down.

M: Derogan couldn't help but giggle at Saxon acting like a baby, the big scary head of insurgents was struggling to run like a kid at the doctor's office.

A second later and Mandara came in with a knight in two, who was holding a small 2ft long ball python. The knight seemed a little surprised at Saxon's struggling.

"When you said he was afraid of snakes, I didn't expect him to be childish about it," she said to Mandara.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Mandara simply said. He led the female knight to the group and first introduced her, "this is Lady Merilda, she is one of the finest archers in the kingdom."

Merilda bowed in respect to the countryhumans, 'it is a pleasure to officially meet you, my Lords, I was informed that Sir Saxon has a fear of snakes so I brought my own to hopefully dispel that fear," she held up her little friend for the others to see, "this is Zurella, she is named after the snake goddess of wisdom and is very friendly, I promise she won't bite."

N: "Nein, nein, nein, nein," Saxon kept on muttering, trying to inch away from the python, but Anglo and England held firm.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Lady Merilda," Anglo replied; England only nodded in greeting as he was busy with his father. "That is quite a beautiful name you have given her, and do you hear that Saxon, she won't bite."

"Yes it will, yes it will," the entity repeated under his breath, and Anglo had enough of his chattering so he asked if the knight could let the snake approach Saxon.

When the snake touched the entity's leg, he instantly froze and his eyes were wide as he watched the python move.

M: Merilda had to bite her lip to keep from snickering, "it's ok my Lord, she's a ball python, they are docile creatures and make very good pets. Here, let's start off a little slower."

She beckoned for the children to come over to help her out, then she held Zurella so her head was away from everyone and just the midsection of her body was facing the others.

"Just take your index and middle finger and gently run them down her back," she directed them, Mandara and Derogan did as told and gently pet the snake. Zurella was unbothered by being pet and was more focused on trying to go up her owner's sleeve where it was warm.

N: Johann slowly approached the python, and although he was wary of its size, he stretched out his hand and petted Zurella. At first, he didn't like the sensation, but later got used to it and loved the snake.

"Your turn, Saxon," Anglo smiled, and he looked down to see Saxon shaking his head. He sighed and tried something out. He placed both his hands over Saxon's eyes, which caused the entity to panic, so he explained, "try not to imagine that you're petting a python. Try to think of something else." He nodded at England, who held his father's arm and placed Saxon's index and middle finger on the snake.

Saxon instantly recoiled but Anglo made quiet hushing sounds to calm him. England guided the entity again, and this time he stayed in contact.

The English saw as Saxon slowly but surely stroked the python, but would sometimes pull away if he petted for too long. His shoulders relaxed as he got used to it, while his eyes were still covered by the winged country.

M: "Well, that's one way to do it," Derogan commented, "great job regardless, what's next Merilda?"

Merilda hummed as she thought on it, she didn't want to move too fast or Saxon could accidentally hurt Zurella, or he could scare Zurella into hurting him.

Very slowly and gently, the female knight positioned Saxon's hands like he was cupping water in them, even though it was difficult since he knew what she was doing and tried to pull his hands away. Eventually, Anglo reassured him into keeping his hands still, and Merilda gently placed the snake into his hands.

"If you feel her tongue that means she's smelling you, not tasting you," she reassured him, "she won't bite anything that's too big for her to eat."

N: The movement of muscle in his hands and the feeling of scales rubbing against them made Saxon want to pull away his hands so much, but he knew that if he did he would drop Zurella. He couldn't back down now.

The python started to smell Saxon, with her tongue against his palm, which sent shivers down the entity's arms. His hands started to shake, so Anglo tried to comfort him, "Remember, think of something else. Not the python, something else." The entity did as he was told and his arms soon stopped shaking.

M: Zurella didn't make it easy to pretend she wasn't a snake, considering her legless body kept slithering in between his fingers. At one point, she started to climb up his arm and tried to enter his shirt, naturally causing Saxon to start panicking again.

"It's ok, it's ok, she's not going to hurt you," Merilda said, pulling the serpent away from his clothing, "she's cold-blooded so she was trying to steal your body heat."

"This isn't working," Derogan said, disheartened, "the only way he can be around her is with his eyes closed, and even then he can't."

"Well he was able to hold her for a little bit," Merilda pointed out, "that is a lot of progress when you think about it."

"Maybe if Anglo or England hold Zurella then he would see that if they can do it he can too," Mandara suggested, then the three Mandorians looked to the English for their verdict.

N: England and Anglo looked at each other, silently having an argument on who should hold Zurella, and eventually Anglo sighed, "I will hold Zurella."

Once the python was removed from Saxon, the winged country uncovered the entity's eyes. The entity just looked up to Anglo, wondering if he had lost his mind about agreeing.

Merilda gave Anglo a quick tutorial on how to hold the python correctly without hurting her, and when he got the basics, she handed Zurella to him.

The snake climbed up Anglo's arm, approaching the country's torso, and Saxon unlucky watched in fear as she snaked around the English country's body. She reached his wings and temporarily disappeared as she climbed down to his waist and back into his arms. Occasionally, she would lick Anglo, and he would chuckle when she did. "See, Saxon, there is nothing to be afraid of."

M: "I think she likes you," Mandara said, "you must smell nice to her."

"It might be because Lord Anglo is part bird," Merilda suggested, "birds are not typically prey to snakes since they are too fast to catch, if anything, snakes are prey to birds so she's most likely trying to determine if you are a threat."

N: "What, no," Anglo answered, shocked, so he petted the python, "I'm not a threat, little one." He continued to stroke Zurella, but then he decided it was Saxon's turn. He handed her back to Merilda, then turned to Saxon, "your turn."

The entity instinctively shook his head so the winged country said, "just let her be as she snakes around. She's not going to bite so you'll be fine." The entity eyed the python in the female knight's arms, and after some more convincing, and England threatening to tell everyone that Saxon's afraid of snakes, he agreed to hold her.

After Merilda quickly briefed Saxon, she carefully handed over the python. The entity started to shake from fear since now he can see the snake, so Anglo held his arms steady. Zurella did to Saxon as she did to Anglo, climbing towards the entity's torso. Disappearing under his shirt, she climbed up so that her head poked out of his shirt near his neck, using the rest of her body to hug Saxon.

After a minute, she licked him right underneath his chin, causing the Head of Insurgents to go very pale. He was internally screaming from the close contact with the python, and when Anglo tried to comfort him, he whispered, "Bitte hör auf (Please stop)." The winged country complied, slowly removing the python from Saxon and returning Zurella to Lady Merilda.

M: "That was very good Lord Saxon," Merilda complimented, "you made a lot of progress for your first time and I'm sure spending a little more time with snakes will disperse your fear."

"I agree," Derogan admitted, "a little stiff but you did alright."

Merilda nodded in agreement before announcing, "well, I must be off, my lunch break ended five minutes ago and I need to get back to work, say goodbye Zurella."

The snake flicked her tongue and swished her tail like she was waving, then Merilda bowed to the countryhumans and took her leave."

"You can breathe now Saxon," Mandara said when he noticed the older country was holding his breath, "you're gonna pass out if you don't."

N: Saxon was actually going to forget to breathe so he let out a deep sigh, then he shuddered, "that is enough snakes for me in a lifetime."

"Come on, Faeder," England grinned, "you did great. I'll ask British Empire if he could bring a python from Australia so we could get rid of your fear of snakes."

"You," the entity pointed at his son, "are a very funny young man. You will not do such thing. I'm going to live in Ireland where there is not a single snake."

"That is a wonderful idea, England," Anglo smiled, trying to not laugh at the face Saxon made when he saw that the winged country agreed, "if Saxon is going to run away from his problems, we will bring it to him."

M: "We met Sir Ireland once, he is super fun to hang out with," Mandara said.

"If not rather irresponsible," Derogan added, "he came here to propose trading to Father and brought some of his alcohol to sample what he wanted to trade, and guess who decided to steal some when he wasn't looking.

"In my defense, the bottle said spiced apple cider on it," Mandara said, "I wouldn't have drunk it if I knew it was alcoholic."

"I still blame Ireland for leaving it where a five-year-old could reach it," Derogan muttered, "he knew there were kids around yet he still left it on the coffee table in the library, very irresponsible if you ask me."

N: "Did he now," England asked, raising a brow, "Ireland and I are going to have a little chat about that."

"That is quite irresponsible," Anglo commented, then he turned to England, "but son, I think it's best that Celtica talks to Ireland. I doubt he would listen to you and he is much closer to Scotland, although I'm not sure he would help in this situation. Also, Celtica is impartial when it comes to alcohol."

"I sometimes still wonder how she has a son like Scotland," Saxon muttered and glanced at England, "no offense."

M: "Guess alcoholism runs in the family," Mandara said, " Sir Ireland is actually the only country who has successfully gotten Father drunk before."

"I don't know if that is something to celebrate," Derogan muttered, "but it is true, Father has a very high tolerance and can drink a lot without getting drunk, I don't know what Sir Ireland puts in his drinks but after three bottles Father was inconsolable."

"How did this conversation go from snakes to Father getting drunk," Mandara suddenly asked, Derogan could only shrug his shoulders.

N: "That sounds like Ireland to me," muttered Anglo, then he spoke up, "I don't know how we got to this point, but perhaps we start steering this conversation away from alcohol."

"And away from snakes for the time being," Saxon added quickly, which got a snicker from Johann, so he turned to him, "do you want to get scared by a snake?"

"Nein," the boy smirked, "but at least I didn't act like a baby about it."

M: Both brothers nodded in agreement to Johann's jab at Saxon.

"So, what now, we still have a few hours till dinner," Derogan asked.

"We could go back to the stables," Mandara suggested, "Dad always goes down there to take care of his horses but since he's hurt we could do it for him."

"I don't know, I don't really want to be around horses for the moment," Derogan sighed sadly, "you guys can go if you want, I just won't be joining you."

Mandara opened his mouth to protest but his brother shut him down, simply turning around and walking out of the dining hall.

"I guess it's too early to bring up horses," Mandara sighed, "sorry guys."