Author's note: I still stand by: thank you for reading. As promised, this chapter is easier on the heart x3 If you stick around to the end, there is a little announcement/question I would like to ask the people who decided to get on board with this trainwreck :)


Frankenstein II – Werewolf Island, 27th October, 02:10

Emptiness. The lines between the waking world and reality vanished and left Frankenstein with nothing but an emptiness that made him think of the vast, uncaring void that was the universe. Was anybody out there? He might as well be floating through space and time and be unaware of it. Frankenstein could not remember he had seen this many stars. Slipping in and out of consciousness, Frankenstein watched the stars pass, unable to control his body. He was cold, so cold, and his throat was sore and parched. Frankenstein felt disconnected from his body, like a stranger doomed to watch. His limbs would not obey him.

As he watched the stars pass him by, he slowly regained awareness. His memories were a tattered mess. He felt sick, but only gagged up bile that burned in his sore, dry throat. Frankenstein barely managed to flip over on his stomach. This was the end. His vision blurred as he tried to take in his surroundings. Five ancient trees stood in a ring around him. The grass under his bare skin felt dry, as though the last rain has been a while ago. Here, he would die. It was alright. He no longer felt the bond. Even in the long centuries of separation, he could always feel it, faintly, this lifeline that tethered him to this world. Gone. Gone. Gone. Frankenstein could no longer feel him. In fact, he could no longer feel anything. Empty, that's what he was. He called out to Dark Spear, his lover who was always by his side, and was met with deafening silence once more. They were gone.

Frankenstein felt like the most lonely person in the universe. He had failed – and he lived. Was this the punishment he received for the power he'd wielded, and all the things he had done to obtain it? Did he live just to die?

Silent and uncaring, the stars listened to his cries. When Frankenstein had no more tears left to cry, he accepted the fate – but fate did not accept him. Dawn almost neared when he, in one of the moments of consciousness, perceived footsteps approaching him. He stared at bare feet. "The Lordswood is no place for the living, and no place to bury a human." The voice of an old woman reached his ear. Frankenstein was flipped over on his back and was met with milky eyes and a knowing smile. A werewolf, with wrinkles as deep as the canyons that ran through their lands. Her hand caressed his cheek. Frankenstein could only bring out a dry, voiceless croak. Though he wanted to fight, his body refused to obey him as she picked up his bare, battered, weakened body.

He heard the old stranger muttering as he drifted back into the cold embrace of unconsciousness.
"... and those who cannot die... must live instead."

Third Elder I – Berlin, 28th October, 18:30

Watching the First Elder surrounded by the Kingsguard made Third wish the Union did not exist at all. They could get by with the odd job, do mundane things. The entire living room of the spacious penthouse apartment smelled like pizza, cartons were all stacked on the tables. They all had the voracious appetite of modified humans, after all. In such rare moments, when he heard them laugh and talk like old friends, he wished they could be like anyone else, without the weight of humanity resting on their shoulders. The past months had proven that any of them could die any day – and all they could hope for was that it would be meaningful. Was this how he wanted to live, though? With Elders dying left and right, Third questioned more and more whether this was the way to go. Of course, he never voiced these thoughts. He would stand by First's side no matter what and fight for humanity until his very last breath.

But sometimes he really wished he did not have to.

"I have looked over the data we received from the satellites and sensors," he said and he hated to see the disappointment in the faces of the kingsguard. They knew that once he started talking business, they were supposed to leave the two Elders to it.

First remained sat on the couch. Without comment, he folded his slice of pizza, deciding that this was the only way to keep this many toppings on the pizza and off his lap. He maintained eye contact as he bit into his folded slice. While the blond man had ordered a pizza with almost every single kind of topping the delivery service had (except anchovies, which he was allergic to, and artichoke hearts, which he just could not stand in general), Third was content with cheese and pepperoni. He did not have an opportunity to even start his pizza, yet.

"The energy signatures on the territory of the werewolves were off the roof, and of a kind we never recorded before. … Frankly, I have no idea what happened there," Third said and sat on the couch next to First. ".. I could not reach the Second or Fifth Elders, either."

First finished his bite and reached for his glass of Pepsi cola. Was he buying time to decide what to say? This situation was unprecedented. Could the last two non-human elders have fallen too, now? Third knew exactly that this would benefit him. Especially the werewolves, who had been a thorn in First's eye ever since they had joined the Union. The nobles had kept quiet, at least, and acted with a minimum of decency.

"He attacked the nobles recently, didn't he? I guess they retaliated," First mused. "It might be time for us to pay our furry friends a visit soon."

Geo snorted at the joke and almost spluttered ginger ale over the TV remote. First chuckled and leaned back against Third's shoulder. "I really hope something terrible happened to Second Elder. Christ, I can't stand that bastard."

Now they just needed to get rid of Crombel, Third thought to himself. Maybe then, when they finally had no more enemies standing in their way, their life could be... different. Not more. He would never call this bad, or not enough... but sometimes, in moments like these, he felt like there weren't enough of them.

Unfortunately, they didn't even manage to finish the movie before Third's and First's alarms went off – one of the other Elders was trying to reach them all. First had sprawled out, his head rested in Third's lap. "Go with Haydn." It was known that the two elders were together at times- there would be no issue if they responded from the same device together. Third nodded and got up. Might Lunark or the Second Elder be alive and trying to contact them? He doubted that Crombel was the one to call them.

The two humans entered the communications room. The Thirteenth Elder and the Second Elder were in a call already. Ah... Someone would be very disappointed... Haydn pressed the button to accept the call and join them in as well. Whatever conversation Crombel and Maduke had while waiting for them stopped.

"Second Elder," Haydn started. "You called us?"
"Yes. I presume you caught on that there was some commotion in my lands a few days ago. The nobles allied with some traitor warriors and tried to invade us."
The nobles did make a move, then... If the Second Elder was still alive, then their invasion must have failed, clearly. Oh, someone would definitely be very disappointed.
"I am going to strip Lunark, the main conspirator among my warriors, of her rank, as well as her position within the Union. Surely you see the necessity for doing so."

Haydn glanced at Third, and Third glanced back. He could faintly hear sound coming from the one earpiece Haydn wore to receive orders from the true First Elder. "You do not have the authority to demote an Elder out of her seat, personal quarrels aside."
"This is not a personal quarrel, but outright treason. Treason against both her people and the Union. Remember, the Nobles are not our allies. The werewolves are. Next week, she will be tried and sentenced as the traitor she is, along with the others who have been found guilty so far."

That sounded like Maduke alright, speaking of putting people on trial when he was already convinced of their guilt regardless. Lunark... has been one of the few decent people in the Union, Third thought. However... Another glance at Haydn. Was their Leader saying anything? Would he decide that someone like Lunark would be worth an argument with the werewolves? Of course he would not.

"... I regret that Lunark has decided to turn away from our path," Haydn said bluntly. "I believe both Third and Thirteenth will agree that this affair is to be left in your hands, then."

No objection from Crombel, as expected. Third remained quiet. If the First Elder decided that the Fifth was not worth confronting the Second Elder for... then he would comply as well.

"I will suggest a more fitting replacement with greater dedication to our goals soon. Oh... and I hope you understand that I am going to retaliate. If the nobles want war, I will give them war." Maduke's words were followed by a few moments of heavy silence before he decided to end the call. "Ex umbrae, super omnibus."

The ancient union words, dating back to its foundation. From the shadows, above all others. Haydn and Third remained silent even after the call ended. So Lunark... was a traitor? He could barely imagine. She never had seemed to care about much except finding opponents to duel for her own fun. Of course, to Maduke... whatever went against him, went against the Union too. How long until he would make a move? Silently, the two of them returned to the living room. The First Elder sat on the couch alone and he'd pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Third shook his head when offered one.

"What do we do now?", Third asked as Haydn left the room to leave them alone.

The blond man just lit his cigarette and leaned back with a shaky, frustrated breath. "I've wanted the werewolf lands for so long... we've been waiting for the Second Elder to make a mistake... something... anything... to weaken him enough to make the killing move. We'll need to have Crombel produce more results soon. And your teams too. Once the Second Elder swallows Lukedonia, nothing but us stands between humanity's final subjugation to other races and him."

Third sat down beside him and placed a kiss against First's temple.

Raizel III – Lukedonia, 29th October, 12:45

Raizel had hesitated and now Raskreia and soon the entirety of Lukedonia would pay the price. Had he depleted his life force without hesitation and destroyed the chimera before Ignes could lure Frankenstein away... None of these things would have happened. Frankenstein and M-21 would be free to live their lives and Muzaka would have defeated the false Lord and the pride of the Nobles would have gone unscathed. His life seemed a small price to pay for this. Selfish. He was selfish. This whole time, his allies suffered because he hesitated, because he tried to save enough strength to walk away in hopes of getting an opportunity to live. Well, that's what he got now. He was alive and he wished he wasn't. However, no one could undo what had happened.

Dully, he sat on a chair by the bed, watching over Garda's restless sleep. Muzaka would have wanted him to take care of her, no matter what. Raizel could not let him kill someone he cared about – and now that he was gone... Karias was a good man for taking her with them when they were forced to retreat. To leave her with that monster... Though at that time, he could not spare a thought to anyone but Frankenstein and Muzaka, he now realized just how many people he had let down.

"She should recover... over time." Raizel looked up when the soft voice broke the silence. Claudia Tradio, who had taken after her father in her talents with plants and medicine, had come to examine Garda to the best of her abilities, given her lack of experience with werewolves. Garda's breath had steadied after Claudia had administered several drops of a substance Raizel did not recognize by smell. After a few moments, he acknowledged her words with a nod.

"I should go now, Ser Raizel," she said timidly and stepped away from the bed. Raizel rose from the chair as well. Garda needed rest, real rest, especially now that she had received something to soothe her frayed soul and give her a few hours of peace.

Together, the two nobles left the guest room in which Garda would recover. While Claudia headed for the exit of the manor, Raizel followed the sound of voices to the tea room where he used to receive … friends. No. The clan leaders who betrayed him and Lukedonia... had they ever been friends? Tao, Takeo, Seira and Regis sat on the couches. Quietly, he sat on the lone armchair near the fireplace.

"Rai... do you think M-21 is...?" Tao started the question and did not finish. Alive? Dead? There was no way of telling. Deep down inside, they all knew the answer. M-21 being alive... was unlikely, at this point. Or maybe he was being kept as a test subject... which might be even worse. He, out of all people... never should have to endure something like this again. M-21 could not possibly have gotten this far just to end where his journey had started. The thought filled Raizel with blind, helpless anger. If only he had enough strength ... he was not even certain whether he would be able to kill the werewolf Lord with what was left.

Silence set between them. At one point, Regis opened his mouth as though he meant to say something – gently, Seira placed her hand on his arm and silenced him. This was not the moment for attempted snark. Especially now that M-21 was not here to snark back.

Tao cleared his throat. "Rai... Frankenstein... the school..."
"It should be kept open," Raizel answered after a moment of thought. The school.. Frankenstein had said he'd opened it to teach him about humans. Now... His heart longed to return to Korea and go to school. He wanted to sit by the window and listen to the lessons. He wanted to go to the store and to the PC Cafe with the children and return home, to Frankenstein, where Miss Seira made them Ramen. Frankenstein would serve tea. Rajak would be in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Yuna would call M-21 shyly 'Mister' and Ikhan would complain about Shinwoo wanting to copy his homework again. Suyi could tell Raskreia how beautiful her hair was. Raskreia would enjoy being there, too.

"... so... we should return to Korea and keep the school open for Frankenstein? I mean... I guess I could. I can fake the paperwork." Tao rubbed the back of his neck.
"... we.. can say that he... got.. hospitalized abroad," Takeo mumbled. Raizel nodded, not sure what exactly they were talking about. But he was sure that they would handle the situation well. His friends must get their education, Frankenstein had repeatedly talked about how important the school was for their future. He wished he could go back there himself. Yet... he was needed here, useless as he might feel.

"... I would like some Ramen," he mumbled, and hoped that there were still some packs left from his last visit here.


Author's note the notening: As some of you noticed, I am trying to go in-depth even with less popular characters and the results were some absolutely fascinating, complex dynamics I edited out of all my plans for Re:Noblesse because I assumed no one would care to go in-depth with these characters and their development. I have been thinking about occasionally releasing extra chapters on Mondays that take place between two regular chapters and focus on interesting aspects such as Maduke's and Ignes' complex, messy dynamics, Zaiga as a secondary antagonist looking for opportunities, the sad end-of-the-world friendship between Aris and Yuri... yes. As you can see, this is something I was sad to take out of my original plans for this fanfic, and I would honestly just like your sincere opinion whether this is something that would actually interest you, or something that you really would rather not see (in which case, i will likely start publishing an accompanying parallel fanfic because writing villains is what I am best at tbh). I would appreciate all opinions, given that I am writing this fanfic for you all and want you to enjoy yourself :)
obviously, this addition of extra monday chapters focusing on only the villains and what these assholes are up to would take absolutely nothing away from the regular chapters that I still intend to publish on thursdays/fridays.