A/N: So, I will admit that I am frustrated by the radio silence that meets each chapter, so this is the last one I upload on ffn. I will keep updating this fic and all my other works on ao3 under the same titles as here, but right now, I do not have the time and energy to crosspost for a silent audience. Thank you for your understanding.
Frankenstein X – Lukedonia, 23th February, 11:00
Frankenstein was just about alive when he reached Lukedonia's shore. He'd crossed the north American continent, always keeping southeast. A group of scouts picked him up in the border areas of their territory, bringing him to the coastal station where they took care of humans who ended up stranded in Lukedonia despite all measures of protection. He kept insisting on speaking to the Noblesse or at least any of the clan leaders for hours before the scouts decided to call for Gejutel. Frankenstein sat in an isolated cell, he'd devoured the food he's been given like a starving glutton, leaving some stained drops on his tattered shirt. Now all he could do was wait for a clan leader to show up as requested.
It took about an hour for Gejutel to reach the Northcoast base after he received a message that a stranded modified human requested to see a clan leader. His first thought was one of the three humans who lived with the Noblesse and Frankenstein, then he thought it might rather be a member of the Union. In any case, he should go and investigate. When he opened the door to the interrogation room, he'd expected almost anyone but him. Shocked silence. This couldn't be?!
"Gejutel. So the old bat is the one to come see me?" Frankenstein grinned. Good. His frenemy was here.
"It's really you!" That grin, that cocky tone, that was Frankenstein beyond any doubt. He looked rather relieved. "All reports said you're dead!"
"These things seem to be greatly exaggerated." Even if it wasn't far from the truth. "My master. How is he?" The bond was gone. He couldn't check him himself.
"Not well. He used a lot of force." And even now, he was just fading slowly. "He needs to hear about this at once."
"Please." Frankenstein could wait. He heaved a shaky breath. Ignes had been honest. Master was still alive, even if he was not well.
"Are you in a state to go yourself?" He could question him on the way.
Frankenstein rose slowly, on weakened limbs. "I can go. I need the things confiscated when I was put here." Probably to try and see who he was.
"Of course." Gejutel nodded. Frankenstein also received clean clothes along with the few things he had on him. They set out on the way, walking at a pace Frankenstein would be comfortable with. "What happened?'
"That's. ...a bit of a story," Frankenstein began. "I blacked out while fighting and woke back up in a clearing on one of the mountains, where an elderly werewolf nursed me back to health."
Gejutel listened to Frankenstein's story attentively - the shaman, his capture, his escape. It all sounded like the kind of fabulous adventure only Frankenstein would survive. "And now you're here, at last."
"Yes." He sighed his relief. "M-21. I was told he was released."
"He was." Gejutel nodded. So Ignes was actually on their side. "He and the other two modified humans accompanied Seira and Karias to a meeting with an Elder of the Union. We're waiting for a confirmation of the planned alliance."
"So her plan is working..." That was. ...more surprising than anything he'd ever heard, if he was honest.
"One of their Elders tried intercepting the meeting. Which means, if I understand right, we're only with the First and Third Elders and whoever they have to bring to the table."
So they might be in more dire straights than originally anticipated. "And things here?" What were they working with on their own side?
"The remaining Clan Leaders. I don't think the Noblesse is in a state to fight. A werewolf warrior named Garda is here and willing to fight by our side. Scouts are searching for the successors of the traitor clan leaders."
"Garda. ...Ignes gave me something for her."
"Did she?" From what Gejutel understood, Ignes has been experimenting on that woman. What could she possibly have?
He raised the packet. "Ignes said this was information she might want. I haven't looked at it."
Gejutel merely frowned and nodded. They were approaching the manor. "Did you hear anything of the Lord?"
"Not really. Nothing you wouldn't already know." Ragnarok was still incomplete, she wanted the plan to work, etc...
Understood. He stopped at the door, then opened. He could sense Raizel. Raizel, who looked up because he felt something that ...should not be. When Gejutel knocked at the door to the tea room, Raizel was already on high alert. This could not . ..."Enter!" He sounded almost breathless, his voice did not hold the usual even tone but shook just slightly in barely contained dreadful anticipation.
As the door opened, Gejutel and Frankenstein entered. Frankenstein's eyes widened as indescribable relief crashed over his face. "Master..."
Frankenstein! Wordlessly, Raizel closed the distance between them, and for the first time, he wrapped his arms around Frankenstein in an almost crushing hug as he was overwhelmed by a flood of emotions that drove him to tears in their intensity.
"Master!?" Frankenstein stiffened. This was so out of character for him. And yet. ...His arms came up to embrace him too, tears starting to fall from his eyes. "When I noticed our bond was gone, I feared the worst."
Raizel closed his eyes, taking a shaky breath. This. ...was unbelievable. Not only did he have M-21 back, but Frankenstein, too. ". ...you were gone ." And while he had somehow, just about, managed to force down his grief, the relief he now felt was more than he could contain. He felt as if Frankenstein might dissolve if he let go.
"I thought I was too." He'd lost so much. Could Master even feel all of the changes, without their bond? Frankenstein wanted to reform it, but feared that it might hurt him now.
Hesitantly, he pulled away, cheeks flushed with embarrassment over his inelegant outburst of emotion. Quietly, Gejutel offered them both a silken handkerchief each.
Frankenstein took both, wiping his master's face before he tended to himself. Master should never be forced to be anything less than elegant.
"You must tell me everything." Raizel smiled weakly. Frankenstein really was himself, even if his energy had. ...changed. He could not quite pinpoint it just yet.
"Of course, Master." Could he even still call him that, when they weren't bonded anymore? He explained. Everything that had happened to him up until now.
Raizel sat on the armchair, listening to Frankenstein's tale. They must rescue Ignes Kravei, she had done much for them even if it would be easier to help the werewolves win. ". ...Something about you. ...it's as if something is missing."
"I gave myself fully over to the Dark Spear. But when I awoke, they were gone." Would Master draw the same conclusions?
"It takes tremendous energy to relocate a body from one point to another." Even the Elenor only could teleport over short distances. But Frankenstein had woken up in the mountains, far from all battlefields.
"So that energy came from them." And consumed them. Dark Spear had inexplicably given themselves to save him. He swallowed.
Raizel nodded slowly, filled by a sadness he could barely put into words. Dark Spear had tormented and haunted Frankenstein, yes, but their relationship was more intricate, more meaningful than just that. "I am sorry."
". ...I don't know how to feel about it," he admitted. He'd loved them, for all that they were monstrous and harmful.
"You will find out in time." Raizel frowned slightly. But that meant. ..."You can no longer fight." Dark Spear was the main source of Frankenstein's overwhelming power.
"For now." He frowned. "It will take time to get back up to the levels I was at." If he ever did. Without Dark Spear, would he truly be able to reach Clan Leader level again?
"Did Gejutel tell you about our plans?" A powerful fighter like Frankenstein could have been an invaluable help.
"Ally with the Union. I'm aware." And as much as he disapproved, he knew it was the only option left.
"We are past the point of being able to afford to stand alone." They would need allies - and so would the Union. He thought back to all the violent encounters they had had. "My whole life, I have not been happier than now."
"I'm glad to see you well, Master." As well as he could be in this situation, anyway.
Raizel smiled genuinely, this time. "You are back, against all odds. That must mean something - and this something is what gives me hope again."