"You shall be my roots and / I will be your shade, / though the sun burns my leaves. / You shall quench my thirst and / I will feed you fruit, / though timme takes my seed. / And when I'm lost and can tell nothing of this earth / you will give me hope. / And my voice you will always hear. / And my hand you will always have. / For I will shelter you. / And I will comfort you. / And when we are nothing left, / not even in death, / I will remember you. /
- Mark Z. Danielewski, "You Shall Be My Roots"
Infamous and reverenced Daemon Frankenstein is bored.
In his study, surrounded by ancient grimoires, countless flasks of dubious substances coming in a remarkable array of colors, diagrams and Summoning Circles written on weathered scrolls, and Encyclopaedias, said Daemon is inelegantly seated on his lustrous armchair, feet prompted on a pile of books and head thrown back, eyes closed and arm resting on his face. With his servants nowhere to be seen, his apprentices journeying around the world, and no contractors whatsoever, there's little he can do to entertain himself – brewing potions and perfecting spells are out of question, they're tiring and most certainly not coming out from the Fun Department.
"Nothing in the whole world," he thinks, sulking, "will take this burden from my soul".
He's about to be proven so, so a disheveled man wearing a servant's robe and his black-rimmed purple cloak. The one symbolizing his high status as a Class Five Daemon. That cloak.
By a disheveled man wearing a servant's robe and his black-rimmed purple cloak.
(The one symbolizing his high status as a Class Five cloak.)
(That cloak.)
«Who are you?» he asks with a squeal, eyes running over the stranger's body again and again and again. He doesn't seem dangerous - and he couldn't be even if he tried because Frankenstein is still a Class Five Daemon – but Frankenstein keeps some distance, wary. The stranger looks up, distressed, and his ruby eyes waver under Frankenstein's powerful glaze.
When his servants follow a handful of Royal Guards inside the palace, the least thing they expect to see is their Master together with the man whose face is plastered on a thousand "Wanted" posters.
The Lord Commander speaks up. «Milord, you know who's the man walking with you?»
Frankenstein scoffs, glittering black sparkles forming through his fingers.
«Who, him?» he questions, glancing at the man next to him for a brief moment. When he turns to face the Lord Commander, there's the hint of a grin the guard doesn't catch. «He's my attendant.»
«Do I want to know why you broke into my palace followed by the Royal Guards?»
«You would, Milord.» The stranger sits uncomfortably on a plain chair, eyes cast down. Frankenstein takes his time observing him.
«But you're not going to tell me, are you?» The stranger only shakes his head. «I'm Frankenstein.» He stands, holding out his hand for the stranger to hold. The stranger grabs it with grace.
«Raizel.»
«You're strange, Raizel.» He says absentmindedly, swirling the wine in the glass before taking a sip. «I can't really figure you out.»
Raizel's hands stop tracing circles and he looks up. «How come?»
«You've been living here, helping me out with potions and spells, providing me materials, and not once you asked something in return.» Frankenstein's slit pupils are glued on Raizel, who blinks and tears his eyes away. «I am a Daemon, Raizel, and a powerful one. I can easily grant any wish of yours.»
Raizel smiles, and it's warm as springtime. «I wished for a place to live in peace. You already gave me what I wanted.»
When Raizel returns to his task, sometimes humming to himself pleasant popular songs, Frankenstein can't look away. This man, who gets lost in the palace at least five times per day, who so quietly marvels at every simple spell Frankenstein chants, who's gracious smiles and bright eyes, is the same man the Royal Guards deemed as "dangerous" and "vicious".
There must be something wrong with them.
Raizel blinks, eyes adjusting to the dim light emitted by the candles. At the sight, Frankenstein heaves a long, relieved sigh, and his hand curls around Raizel's pale one. He's alive.
«Milord?» he rasps, eyeing the Daemon with worry. «What happened?»
Frankenstein explains how he felt a cold wave passing through his body, how he summoned himself outside the palace only to find Raizel laying in a pool of his own blood – he omitted the part in which he slashed alive five Royal Guards, figuring it would only deepen Raizel's frown – and chanted a spell to save him. Raizel's frown deepened anyway.
«You used your powers at such a long distance from the palace?» He questions before erupting in a fit of coughs. Frankenstein pats his back soothingly and chants some other words, ignoring the lingering feeling of drowsiness and the burning pain at his core. «You could have died.» He adds.
«I'm alright.»
But Raizel seems unconvinced as he stares to the Daemon's face, thumb rubbing circles on the hand gripping his. «Liar,» he breathes out, «there's no way you would be-»
«Raizel.» Frankenstein lets the syllables roll on his tongue, and the name is powerful once pronounced. «I'm fine. Rest, now.»
And Raizel's eyes close, coaxed by the sprinkles of magic Frankenstein added to his words.
He's ripped out of sleep by the smell of herbs and the absence of a warm body next to him. Something moves near his head and his hand reflexively snatches it, halting its movement. When Frankenstein opens his eyes, Raizel looks surprised and his wrist is tightly gripped in his hand.
He relaxes immediately and sits, sheets pooling at his hips and waist. Raizel hides his hand behind his back and Frankenstein lets him, because he already knows. He would recognize that smell everywhere.
«Did you seduce me into sleeping with you so you could cast a spell on me, dear?» he jokes, winning a cute blush from the human, and then strokes his arm, eyes full of devotion. «Did you really think I wouldn't notice?»
«I just...» the human sighs and opens his hand, revealing a small sachet embroidered with golden and black threads. Although expecting it, Frankenstein can't help but feel giddy, soul warming from the affectionate (but hazardous) gesture. «I heard it would help you,» he finally adds with a whisper.
«So you wanted to form a contract to help me?»
Raizel, silly, wonderful human, gives a small nod.
«Are you aware of the consequences of this type of contract?»
«I do.» There's resolution in those blood-red eyes of him, a strength Frankenstein isn't used to see. «If I can ease your burden, I'm willing to do anything.»
Frankenstein chants the spell, and his appearance shifts into his Daemonic form, black horns thick on his forehead and dark scales plastered covering the skin of his hands and forearms. The Contract Circle glows of purple light around them.
«We have entered a contract of the soul. You are hereby bound to my lifeline, as I'm bound to yours. Do you consent?»
«I consent,» comes Raizel's voice. The sachet in his hands levitates.
«The contract requires a payment,» Frankenstein informs, stalling the spell to guide Raizel through the last passage of the contract making. The human nods understandingly, and Frankenstein's lips curl into a fond smile before leaning in, covering Raizel's soft lips. The circle around them glows brightly for what feels like an eternity as they kiss, and then it dissolves into thin air.
Their lips part with a sigh. «I hope you won't come to regret what you just did,» is what the Daemon says, stroking the human's face with a thumb. «A contract is irreversible.»
«I won't,» is what Raizel says, and Frankenstein can feel the burning affection directed to him filling him completely of Raizel and Raizel alone, leaving no empty space.
They share another kiss under the gentle morning light.
With time, Raizel will adjust to his new life as a half-Daemon. With time, Frankenstein will adjust to the feeling of two souls resonating into his core, empowering his magic and making him feel, for the first time, human.
Role-reversal magial AU aka cluster of AUs put together because they sounded nice. Yup.
I realize none of this makes really sense because I didn't explain shit, but I honestly don't have a background story for some details (like why the RG want Rai). Ignore those little details. They do not exist.
I had to look up to the Contract Chapter (Top 5 best OTP moments) because I could not, for the life of me, remember what words Raizel uses when they get married - form the contract, sorry, I slipped.
So, little facts about this AU. The Daemonic hierarchy has five levels (classes), starting with Class One (weakest Daemons) and ending with Class Five (strongest Daemons - Noblesse Rai and the Lord would classify as Class Five Daemons, just to give you an idea of how strong Franken is in this AU.)
Daemons are magical beings, thus they can work with potions or simple spells just like wizards; they don't have to pay a price to use magic, but they always have limitations because otherwise Daemons would go around and conquer the world without sparing a glance to other beings. So yeah, no prices, but limitations. Franken's limitation is the distance from his palace: the farther he is from the palace, the strongest the recoil hits. Obviously, it's even harder when the spell chanted is a high-level one (that implies the spell he used to save Raizel - it's high-level magic and he cast it far, far away from the palace) and the quantity of magical power used.
Contracts exist in different shapes. The simplest contract requires an exchange: you pay a price, the Daemon does its thing, and it ends after the request is fulfilled. Raizel and Frankenstein's contract is another thing: it's irreversible, meaning you can't back out from it after you form it; it lasts until one of the parties die, and it's not exchange but sharing. Like marriage, but with soul-sharing.
The quote at the start is from one of my favourite books ever, "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.
That ends the brief explanation. If you have other questions, feel free to contact me here or on tumblr (link on bio).
Look up the wonderful art from Chapter 5 made by lovely qdeanna on tumblr, it's beautiful and I want to rub my face on it forever!
To user Hyracia: thank you for following this collection, I hope you liked it so far and that you'll keep on liking it.
To user O.O: thank you for the nice review, now Victor identifies himself as Raizelsexual and this is it, no one will ever convince me otherwise.
I hope you'll be satisfied with this chapter! I don't know if I'll manage to post another next Saturday because life is getting in the way, but I hope so. Thank you for the attention!
pwmo (and all my love)