Summary: Frankenstein narrowed his eyes, remembering some information that he had found earlier but then discounted as unneeded. He had kept his notes on it, however, in case he changed his mind.

Contains death

Set pre-series.

Alternate interpretation of events.

Blame Key for feeding this plotbunny, pffft.

Written for either the 'deathfic' square or 'first time /last time' for Trope Bingo.

Forging a New Path

By Dark Ice Dragon

No! Frankenstein snarled, wanting to hurl the Dark Spear at the wall, its silver edge gleaming in the candlelight. Years of research had gone into its creation and this was what the Union had made? Its strength was barely above his own; he should have known trusting the Union to make anything of merit was a waste of time – he never should have sold them his data. Tch.

'You…? You were the cause?'

'You're why-'

'It's your fault-!'

Frankenstein shook his head to ward off the souls trapped in the Dark Spear. "Yes, but you were from villages – your souls could protect the whole of humanity." But they couldn't right now, not with their current strength.

Howls of outrage slammed into his skull.

Baring his teeth and bracing a hand against his temple, Frankenstein shoved the souls down as best as he could, still feeling their clawing fingers at his mind.

Dammit, the only way he could make the Dark Spear stronger was if he added more souls to it, but if he did that, it would also add to the annoying voices distracting him.

There had to be…

Frankenstein narrowed his eyes, remembering some information that he had found earlier but then discounted as unneeded. He had kept his notes on it, however, in case he changed his mind.

He had thought there would be no need for it, but now it did not seem to be the case.

Flexing his hand, Frankenstein dismissed the Dark Spear, the souls still a constant undercurrent to his own thoughts, and strode towards one of his lesser used rooms.

xOx

Frankenstein exhaled, putting the final touches to his summoning circle. It had taken some time, but his research was complete; with the knowledge he now had, he would be able to call a demon.

'Never should-'

'-make things worse-'

He quashed the souls' voices with practiced ease, still feeling their discontent no matter what he did.

Why couldn't they understand that they were part of something bigger now – they should be happy about their contribution to the protection of humanity.

Frankenstein stood up, putting his thoughts away, and double-checked everything was where it should be. It was, and he nodded in satisfaction.

It was done.

Summoning the demon was the easy part – the unknown factor was what the demon would ask for in return for its power. Answering a question he should be able to do with little difficulty, and if it asked for a soul, he had more than enough at his disposal.

If it asked for his specific soul, he would gladly pay his price to protect humanity.

Frankenstein took in a breath and exhaled slowly, preparing himself.

Then he lifted his chin and started incanting the spell that would summon the demon, the foreign sounds flowing off his tongue.

The chill was obvious straight away, his skin prickling at a presence building. He continued, his voice stronger now that he knew he was doing something, his breath becoming more visible with each word, the shadows growing stronger in the room.

When the final hissing syllable left his mouth, a bang shook the room and Frankenstein raised an arm to protect his eyes at the blast of aura that whirled out of nowhere.

He peered over his arm when it settled, anticipation thrumming through his body at what he would see, at the fact he had successfully summoned a demon.

The being hovering above the circle was formless, its edge flickering like candlelight. It appeared more solid than a cloud however, its body a royal purple. At the top, two lights gleamed and Frankenstein would have thought they were eyes except the shape of them was more like the afterimages burned into his eyes after seeing a lightning strike.

"Demon!" he called out, lowering his arm fully, "I a-"

"Mine!" The demon lunged at him, claw-tipped arms aimed towards him forming out of its mass.

"Wh-" It moved faster than he expected, but while he felt the impact of it cashing into him, it disappeared, like-

Frankenstein's knees thudded on the flood, surprise taking their strength as he felt a presence wrap around his mind, far stronger than the souls inside the Dark Spear could make.

He couldn't understand the way the demon thought either, only feeling impressions of thoughts, images of its wants…

Frankenstein sucked in a breath when he realised what the demon's plan was. He didn't feel the air entering his lungs, the demon suffocating his mind, planning to snuff his soul and take his body for its own. And once it had that…

No. He snarled, summoning the Dark Spear, feeling the wave of souls swell in his mind, their confusion at this new presence.

'What-'

'Who-'

'-demon!'

The demon hadn't expected the souls, easing its hold on his mind, and with that reprieve, he shoved the demon's plan at the souls, how it would lay waste to whatever was in its path, more directed than any mutant.

Frankenstein had never summoned the Dark Spear since the first time, but it was satisfying to feel the souls charge at the demon, their fury and protectiveness not directed at him for once.

If he could convince them to work together, to direct their anger towards the nobles instead…

The demon howled, the souls taking it apart rather than driving it out, their sheer numbers overwhelming its power and Frankenstein snarled, moving to destroy it before it retaliated.

He only had enough time to notice a number of the souls weren't attacking the demon, their focus on him before the first three slammed into him.

No! What were they doing? How could they attack him when the demon – He lost count as more souls turned their attention to him and the last thing Frankenstein was aware of was a surge of strength from the demon, its presence flooding his mind again.

xOx

He gasped, his eyes snapping open, his hand reflexively gripping something, his head throbbing.

Where…? What…? He blinked, trying to understand what had happened.

'No! It fused-!'

'Have to stop-'

He started and then quelled the voices (souls) with a shake of his head, sighing in the silence of their absence. The headache didn't abate, but at least now he could take stock in peace.

The circle in front of him was familiar and he pursed his lips. It was for…summoning a demon, he knew that much, the information slotting into place. It mustn't have worked.

As for himself… Frankenstein, yes, that was it. He got to his feet, dusting off his knees with a hand. So he could strike off attempting to do that to gain more power.

Sighing, Frankenstein studied the Dark Spear, its purple flickering edge, his transformed hand before he dismissed it. His hand changed slowly, the purple fading at a sluggish rate, his claws the last to change. Had it always been like that…? He couldn't remember.

The gaps in his memories were troublesome, but they seemed to filling themselves. And if they didn't… He scanned the books around him. He could fill them himself.