AN: A huge thank you for all the comments and continued x3 I am sorry for the little delay with this chapter, holiday has been hectic :)

Takeo IV – South Korea, 15th December, 17:45

The garden was almost entirely covered in snow, save for the small sitting area Frankenstein began preparing for next year. He'd talked about how he was going to plant roses there, using cuttings from the beautiful Loyard roses in Lukedonia. A cozy place where his master could drink tea when the weather was good. This corner would never be finished, and Rai would never drink tea there. Takeo set down the candle, next to the portrait of Frankenstein, together with some other small tokens of his. There was no grave to visit, but this was his home, and a part of him should be here.

M-21 leaned against the wall, watching Takeo. "... I still can't believe he's..." Making this small memorial shrine felt like making it come true for real.
"I know. Boss..." Tao wiped at his face with his sleeve. No. He could not be weak here. Not when he led them now.
"We'll never forget him. And the things he has done for us. It's.." the least they could do. And unfortunately, it just really did not feel like it was enough.

"Boss. Boss was boss." And it would never be enough. Tao's voice was thick. Snot ran down his face, as he continued to scrub his eyes with a sleeve.

Takeo joined them and quietly held up a pack of tissues. When they were in the DA squad, mourning comrades was taboo. They were replaceable. All of them. But here, he never felt replaceable. You were not allowed to mourn for a replaceable slab of meat – but you must grieve for your fallen family.

"You're the best," Tao whispered as he latched on to him, forgoing the tissues and soaking Takeo's clothes instead. With a stifled sob, Takeo wrapped his arms around him - before, after a few moments, he also invited M-21 to join. Gratefully, the grey-haired man joined their hug. Brothers in arms. For a while they stood there like that - until the doorbell rang. Takeo sighed and pulled away with a weary expression on his face.

"Definitely too late for mail," he stated dryly.

"Yeah. Oh. Right." Tao scrubbed his eyes again, still sniffling. "Wasn't Regis's grandpa sending Seira?"
"Yeah." M-21 stepped away from them. "I'll answer the door."

He headed back inside and glanced at the monitor in the corner, transmitting the images of the front door. That actually was Seira! He hurried up a little to reach the door faster. "Seira!" M-21 smiled as he opened the door. There she was. "It's so good to see you"

She smiled slightly. "It's good to see you as well." Not dead. It was nothing short of a miracle, and she was glad to see it.

"... Come in. I assume you want the scroll." They had left the scroll was on the coffee table. No matter how curious they were, neither of the trio has been able to open it

With a flash of aura, it unrolled itself in front of Seira. She took her time reading it before relaying the message. "The Lord has declared that Ignes is pardoned, and that she is our ally. The werewolves intend to attack us. So we must prepare to strike first."

M-21 nodded. That was about what he'd expected. "Are you okay?" Given that Ignes had attacked, abducted and harmed her...

Seira didn't know. Ignes had attacked her, yes. But she'd been unconscious from that moment up until she was rescued. She had no idea what was going on. Her lips pressed together before she gave her honest answer. "I do not have any strong feelings about this."

M-21 nodded. "I'm not complaining. It's how I got away in the first place." Maybe that would help her. Takeo and Tao joined, glad to see her as well. "Do you need to call Regis' grandpa?", Takeo asked.

"I do." Ser Gejutel would know how best to respond to this.

Tao fumbled out his phone. "Here, it's one of the few that will manage to connect with Lukedonia."

Seira took the phone gratefully, making the call as Tao went upstairs. She'd just finished as he came running back down. "I found a base I could connect to!" He looked visibly excited. "In the Indian Ocean! Pretty far offshore. I could locate and ping it, but we'll need to go ourselves. It's too old for remote control."

Seira had no idea what most of those words were, but she guessed that meant she should check it out. "Do we go there then?"

"Yeah. We need to go there and make sure it works. If it doesn't, we need to come up with something else." M-21 hummed. "Ignes said she'd make sure the werewolf lord would miss the Elder meeting. Then we can talk to them directly. Or else we'll have to go through contacts." Like Crombel.

She really doubted that any Union contacts they had would help. "Let's hope it works then."
"Okay. Uhm. I don't know if we could land there with a plane."
"Helicopter?"
"Hmmh... Should work if we start from the Indian coast, or refuel on the way."
"Sounds good." It was easier if they went together.
"So we all go together?", Takeo asked.

Seira smiled. "Yes. I would not know what I was looking for." So they were the best bet for this.
"I'm of more use here," Tao replied. "Takeo knows how to fly a helicopter so you three should be fine.
"When should we go?", M-21 inquired, leaning back on the couch.
"Uhm... It'll take maybe two days to get there. We still have almost a month.'

Since they had so much time ahead, Seira decided to stay with them - as additional protection and because she could barely bear the heavy atmosphere in Lukedonia right now. Everything depended on whether she and M-21 were successful in their mission. They would not fail the Lord. They would not fail Lukedonia.

Ignes IV – Werewolf Island, 16th December, 11:00

Anxiety gripped at Ignes' intestines - it had done so ever since Maduke voiced yet another threat against her. Along with the usual searing pain that reminded her of the things he loved doing to her, she was also full of a fear that she never thought she would have one day. But when he brought up Garda... "Lord." Ignes brought a new torch with her, and replaced the old one. This perpetual darkness... She looked at Raskreia. "I think I would go mad all alone in here."

"I am fine," she assured. "Why have you come?" Not that she was ungrateful for company, but for the two of them to be caught talking regularly...

Ignes wrought her hands. Of course, she should not come here at all. Pretend she had nothing to do with the noble Lord anymore. But... She struggled finding the right words. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "I have a... somewhat embarrassing question."

Raskreia flushed in turn. What could she be wanting to ask? "An embarrassing question?" Of all the things that Ignes could be down here for, this was not something she'd anticipated.

"... My father has always been a bit.. flimsy about the details." He always thought his little daughter would never ever need to think about those things, probably. And well, she also thought she would never ever worry about them. Because she did not like men. All information always seemed useless to her. "... how exactly does conception work? For nobles, I mean."

The red grew deeper. "You... don't know how this works?" Deadpan, despite being a question.

"That it happens out of our will is a bit meagre of an explanation when it comes to the reality of it." She blushed too, feeling sick for even having to ask about that.

"... I would not recommend doing so here, but you will yourself to ovulate, allowing conception to occur." Otherwise, it was impossible.
"... So... it cannot happen.. say.. accidentally or... against our will, right?"
"No. It's impossible." Oh. Oh. She hadn't been asking because she wanted to have a child. It was because she feared it. "You cannot be forced, Ignes."

"..." That... as quite a relief to hear. You never really worried about those things until you realized they could happen to you. "... I'm glad." Her relief was... But it was not complete yet. "Uhm... is it one of our psychic powers?"

"It's no different from cleaning ourselves." And while Raskreia thought that was aura based, she herself wasn't sure.

"... Okay." Ignes was not good at it because it was hard to transmit through words, but... A shaky breath. "... You know what he did to Garda? Muzaka's most loyal follower?" She slowly sank down against the bars of the cell opposite to Raskreia's.

"Besides turning her into a mindless beast bent on killing him?" She'd been heavily distracted with her own fight, but she knew Garda's aura from the few times she'd been in Lukedonia.

"I pieced together what little was left of her mind. It was..." Horrible. Ignes had seen quite some things during her time at the Union, but Garda... was bad enough to actually shake even her to the core. "... they had several children."

And Ignes was in a similar position now, if what Raskreia inferred was correct. That explained a lot. "I understand."

"... He said if he runs out of patience for me, her fate will seem enviable in comparison," Ignes whispered.

Despicable. Her regard for him was already low when she chose to attack. But now it was far lower than she'd imagined possible. Maduke was nothing more than a monster playing at being a Lord. "You got the information we needed out. Even if he does lose his patience, you will only need to endure it for a little while. You will survive this. And in far better shape."

"..." Ignes took a deep breath. "... Frankenstein is still alive."
" ... Frankenstein lives? Truly?"
"Yes. In the flesh. Tried to sneak into the castle pretending to be a Union Elder. Planned to kill someone . Apparently the Noblesse is dead."

"Impossible. I'd know if the Noblesse died. Ragnarok would be complete."

"Really? He says he doesn't feel the bond. And I did not feel that dark energy. He is weakened greatly. And currently in the dungeons. Courtesy of our dear Lord."

She'd never heard of a bond just disappearing before. "This needs to be investigated. One of us is right. But with Frankenstein already being weaker, I doubt it's him." Raizel might have said that she'd never have a complete Ragnarok if she gave half to him, but she should have gotten something back if he faded.

"..." Ignes shrugged. "Frankly, I don't care. We've seen the state he was in." She assumed Raskreia would not have challenged Maduke to a duel if she had not meant to keep him from ending his own life there. "So for the time being, the four baddest bitches on the field are out of commission."

Raskreia closed her eyes, nodding. "Either way, another valuable ally has returned."

"Hey. I got a bloody murder investigation on my neck. If Frankenstein wants to break out himself, fine, but I am not going to help him. He showed zero interest in my help. I should get rid of him because he knows I changed teams."

"He's not going to reveal an ally. That's not the kind of man he is." She hoped. "And he's a good strategist who gets things done. His true strength is not on the battlefield." No. She'd seen what he was capable of elsewhere. The school. The Trio that Raizel loved so much. The drastic improvements in skill that her Clan Leaders had undergone in his care.

"... Shit. I can't afford this risk. I can leave him to rot there, sure, but breaking him out? I'd have to be bloody mad ."

Raskreia swallowed. "I won't lie. He'd have been a better messenger than M-21 was." Still. "If it will reveal you too much, don't risk it. Not until you feel it's needed. Keep him as backup until then." He was useful. But letting him go could wait.

"Well. Too bad he didn't show up out of the blue earlier than that. Wait. M-21. Is that the guy's name?"

"Grey hair? Grey eyes? Werewolf chimera under the protection of Raizel? Yes."
"... Human names are weird."
"It is my understanding that it's an experiment name. Not an actual one." According to Seira's reports.
"Huh. I thought the Union was the only place that runs that kind of experiments. I tell you, I've never seen anything like him."
"Seira's reports say that a 'Crombel' made the M-series."

"Crombel?" Ignes laughed. "No way. He was just a back-up in case something happened to the Ninth Elder. My student, by the way. There is no way he could have made something like him."

"Either way, he exists. And was once Union. Same as the other two."
"... wild. Well. Either way, I hope the Union really is as much into infighting as father always said. because then they will gladly extend a main to take down their biggest inside-competition."

Raskreia sincerely hoped so as well. "Lukedonia will not fail even if they refuse." Perhaps if she believed it enough, that would be true.

Ignes forced herself to smile and got back up again. "Well... thanks for the pep talk. I should get out of here."
Raskreia nodded. "Stay well, Ignes."
"And you, Lord."