AN: And here you go, the story chapter you all were due today! Please also have a look at chapter 28 which I, due to misplanning, only posted today as well!
On another note, I checked the stats and I realized the vast majority of readers is not from english speaking countries and just putting this out here, my cowriter and I are always happy about comments, questions, theories and suggestions, no matter in which language they are, if you are not comfortable with english! We love hearing from you :)

Raizel V – Lukedonia, 4th February, 15:00

Seira had insisted on returning to Lukedonia before meeting the Elder - and the trio accompanied her. They would just stop off at Lukedonia and deliver the scroll. M-21 would get to see Rai at least for a bit. And then they would have to leave again. "Ser Raizel." A central knight sought out the noblesse, looking rather awkward. "The clan leaders request your presence at the castle."

He nodded, moving to follow the knight. He'd have no way of getting there otherwise.

Gejutel and the other clan leaders were there already - along with the three humans. "Raizel!" M-21 was so relieved to see him in person!

"M-21. You are okay." He smiled. "That's wonderful."

"Yes. And so are you." M-21 smiled as well while Gejutel offered the scroll to him. "The Lord's orders."

Raizel opened it, reading it over. This... couldn't be correct. "Gejutel, there hasn't been any tampering with this, has there?"

Gejutel shook his head. "It has the energy and signatures of an authentic scroll of the Lord.'

"Ignes is truly to be pardoned then." Why? Sure, he'd heard that Ignes had saved M-21, but that didn't change what she was, what she'd done.

"I suppose the Lord had valid reasons." Gejutel couldn't say he was happy about this, either. Looking at Rael's and Regis' faces, they probably felt the same way. "The Third Elder of the Union wishes to meet us," Seira continued.

"Will you be safe?"

"We'll accompany her," Tao assured. "I don't like the idea of Miss Seira possibly having to make important calls all by herself without backup. I request to go with her," Karias said.

He nodded to him. "Good." Then that was settled.

Karias nodded. Hopefully Seira would not understand this as an attempt at belittling her, but as support.

Claudia listened to all of this attentively. Ignes... had a pardon. She had a pardon! She was coming home when they finally dealt with the werewolves and brought the Lord home! Claudia looked to Karias. He understood how excited she was, didn't he? Seira looked content to follow Ser Raizel's orders. He was far older than any of them sans Ser Gejutel. Of course he had wisdom that was greater than Seira's need to prove herself.

He glanced to Claudia. She was pretty much his best friend, so... Karias smiled. Ignes always kept a special place in her heart, so he could understand how important this piece of news must be to her. "when do we leave?", He asked, returning his focus to the people he'd travel with.

"The meeting is in three days. It's in Mexico, so getting there should be no trouble."

"So we should set out today, or tomorrow morning. Because this helicopter isn't ideal for long distances." But landing was easier with it.

So he wouldn't be able to spend much time with them. But Raizel understood. "Today. We can't miss this opportunity."

They all nodded. Regis shuffled nervously. "Can I come too?" The RK-5 assembled again!

Raizel looked to Gejutel. It was his grandson and Clan Leader. He should give his input before Raizel said anything definitive.

Gejutel took a couple of moments to think about this - and finally, he nodded in agreement. It would be a valuable learning experience. "I give my permission. If you feel that this is the right course of action, I will not hinder you,"

"You may go, Regis K. Landegre." Raizel seconded Gejutel's words.

"Thank you!" The boy looked genuinely excited. He got to be part of the events. Tao clasped his hands. "Hey. Rai. We brought you some packs of Ramen."

He blushed. Ramen. Yes, he could do with a bowl right now. He stared at Takeo's gun case. Were they in there again?

"No, we got them in the helicopter." Tao grinned, noticing where Raizel's eyes had wandered. "... uhm... how about we all come over to yours and have dinner before taking off?"

He nodded. Ramen was always good. And it would make them nice and strong for their meeting.

Ludis shuffled. "With all... do you mean us ?" He heard a lot about this Ramen , the food of Lords.

Probably not, but Raizel nodded all the same. "You did not have any last time."

He smiled. "Thank you." Gejutel nodded in agreement. It would be some good bonding time for everyone. And so they headed off to share a meal together before the important negotiations that would determine their fates.

Frankenstein VIII – Werewolf Island, 4th February, 16:00

Frankenstein was pretty much left to rot, one could say - though different people brought a meal and some water once a day, at irregular times, he was pretty much alone in his cell. Ignes had not come to see him even once - she did tell Raskreia that she would just leave him alone. But time passed, and her nervousness grew. Ignes' hands were in the pockets of her lab coat as she approached his cell. "Is that stuff edible?" She nodded towards the strange white-ish slurry of... something. She didn't really know much about food.

"Never seen gruel before?" So now she decided to visit? Wasn't he supposed to be part of some experiment?

"No." She stopped in front of the bars, just out of reach. Even though he did not look like he was in a state to do much. Even the mighty Frankenstein needed nourishment.

He simply ate the tasteless sludge. He needed it, much as he hated it. Even the old woman's primitive cooking was leagues better in comparison.

"Think you'll survive the next months on that?"

"I can. It's not hard to." Just disgusting.

"Good." She simply sat down, her back against the wall. "Don't mind me. I'm taking a break."

"Not taking me to be whatever experiment is going on?"

"No. As if I had time for that."

"Isn't that your job?" What she was supposed to be doing here, even?

"Oh, I don't research anymore. I reproduce results. I have a dozen half-baked scientists I have to teach and there are more warrior recruits signing up for enhancements than I can modify in a day. Plus of course that bloody new titan Maduke wants, when he is not demanding all of my attention. Do. I. Look. Like. Someone. Who. Has. Time. For. Fun. Research?! "

"Did I say I was going to let experimenting on me be fun?" He saw her point, but that hardly changed him being raw material for whatever.

"Oh I'll knock you out with narcotics until you can't even blink."

"Ah. So you're the one responsible for the opioid crisis."

"The what?" She chuckled. This was dumb.

"Didn't you know? There are almost fifteen million people each year becoming addicted to narcotics."

"Ah. I didn't know that they were addictive." She shrugged. "I just do what I'm good at: cutting up people. And not even this I get to do."

"Okay. But why are you telling me? I'm just a prisoner."

"Because this is one of the few places I know are pretty much unsupervised. And where I can go without being suspicious."

"So what you're saying is, if I call you a bitch again, your pet dog isn't going to come down here demanding we make up like we're errant children."

"Cuss your fucking heart out if that makes you happy. I don't care."

Huh. "You're too friendly. What do you want?"

"Company." A frustrated sigh.

"And I'm a good choice for that? You attacked three children who were under my care. I'm certain that you can understand that parents don't tend to be happy about that."

"First of all, I didn't know they were under your care. Second, they are probably doing fine now, Third, fuck yourself with that spoon or eat your... whatever that is in silence."

"I didn't know you were into voyeurism. Any other weird kinks I need to know about so that I can avoid them?"

She could not hold back a dumb giggle. "You're the worst."

"So everyone says." He got back to eating his food in silence.

Ignes let her head drop back against the wall. It was good to just... relax for a bit. No one came to bother Frankenstein, so hopefully no one would come to bother her either.

Well, if she just wanted to stay there, she could. As amusing as it was, he didn't have the energy right now to bother with her much.

"That M-21 guy... is he trustworthy?"

"Of course he is. Always has been." Even when he didn't trust him.

"And he's strong enough to get off this island. Ergo... he should have made it, and delivered the orders, right?"

"Orders?"

"Lord's orders." Her voice had dropped down to a whisper by now. "You know. My pardon and the plan. That's all sort of a big deal."

"... A plan. And you've been pardoned." Was he actually supposed to believe that? He'd listen, since any chance M-21 survived was good, but her words were dubious.

"... Yeah. Hey. Is it true the Noblesse had a part of Ragnarok or something?" Why would he even have it?

"... Yes. The Lord gave him the part her father stashed in Master's mansion." How did she know about it?

"... Wild." She frowned. "... Raskreia said she doesn't have it back."

"... Was it burned up then?" He didn't know how this was supposed to work in relation to Master.

"No idea. All I know is, I did not see him die, Raskreia does not have her soul weapon back and you don't have the bond."

Hmm. That was worth investigating, at least. He'd spent centuries looking based on nothing more than feeling the bond.

"I hate this." She sighed, leaning back. "It's been a couple of days. I have no idea how long this will take. If he ever made it out. If he will actually do it. If they get to work together. If if if if if. This is driving me nuts." Ignes groaned in frustration. "Say something. Anything. A joke. Something mean. I don't care what."

"... So a horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks, 'why the long face?'"

".. why?"

"Because it's a horse. And it has a long face."

"Oh." She laughed nervously. "Right. Is that... is that human humour?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "'Why the long face?' Is what you say when you are asking someone why they are sad. Yes. It's a pun. That's why it works."

"Ah. A word play." She nodded. "I can try to tell one."

"Go for it."

"So the Lord decides to get a new haircut. The barber asks him how he would like his hair cut, to which he answers: in silence. "

"... You know how old that joke is?"

"Older than me, probably."

"I've heard it so often that honestly it's kind of not funny." In all honesty, he hadn't found it funny the first time. That kind of word play... especially with the kind of man their Lord had been... It just didn't make any sense.

"I'm not good at jokes."

Frankenstein nodded. Yeah, that was obvious, if all she could come up with was that. "So did you hear about the mathematician who is afraid of negative numbers?"

"... no?"

"He'll stop at nothing to avoid them."

"...?" She tilted her head questioningly.

"... Nothing. He stops at zero in order to not go into the negatives."

"... Ah. Is that a math thing?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Right." An awkward laugh. Shit. She really felt like she knew absolutely nothing. "... I should probably get back to work."

He nodded. "If you need to." And started again on his gruel. He needed to come up with an escape plan. If Master lived, he needed to be by his side.