DEVOTION OF LOVERS

Luciel let out a weak laugh and covered her mouth with the tip of her fingers at Tao unexpected, enthusiastic and charming behavior while most of the household members, except M-21 and Takeo, sat at the dinner table to eat after the children left.

"Wow~ It's really delicious! I never thought I would taste something like this! Who made all these?" He explained with utter glee in his voice.

"Seira cooked them," Frankenstein said.

"Really? That's incredible."

"For the most part, it's her first time cooking. I just helped out a little."

Tao then began to complement the noble lady. "Not only do you have a pretty face but you can cook too... You really are noblesse!"

Seira remained dignified but her face flared up with the compliments she was given.

Tao then tapped his fork at the bowl of handmade ramen. "Especially this!" He exclaimed with joy. "I see it's the miss's favorite too!" He gestured to Luciel who embarrassingly looked away. "This is called ramen?"

"Yes," Frankenstein answered.

"Seira cooked this, too?"

"No, I cooked that one." He caught a glance to Luciel as her face turned the brightest shade of red. She tried to cover up with her hand but it was too late. Frankenstein couldn't help to smirk at her reaction.

Tao eye's lit up. "Gosh! Really? I've seen it before when M-21 ate it, but I didn't expect it to be this good." he recalled both M-21 and Luciel requesting it back at the hideout. "Not all ramen tastes this good, right?"

"Of course. This ramen is my creation." He answered seriously.

"I knew it. So it wasn't just any ramen. You are awesome to cook ramen like this."

A very light laugh echoed through the room. Everyone turned to look beside Tao as Luciel tried to cover up that she was the one who laughed. She smiled brightly with her cheeks a deep shade of pink. "Some things never change. I see you're still a perfectionist." She can imagine him placing so much time and care into this. He probably measured the perfect amount of water and the temperature as well. It was so cute to imagine that she laugh without thinking.

An evil smirk came to Frankenstein's face. "I still remember having to kick you out of the kitchen a few times in the past because you wouldn't stop accidentally cutting yourself." He watched the show as her face flared up once again.

"I-It's not like I'm a bad cook!" She protested while jumping out of her seat.

"You're not a bad cook, I'll admit it, but what's the point if you can't keep your bare skin away from the knives."

Luciel opened her mouth to protest once again but found out a bit too late that she had no room to argue with his stone facts. She slammed her mouth close and slumped back into her seat to pout. Frankenstein smirked with victory and enjoyment at her reaction that he so dearly missed. It was still hard to believe that they reunited the way they did, but it brought him great relief that she was safe and that his theory that she died 900 years ago was wrong. From the looks of it, it seemed like Luciel was her same old self, if not but a little distant.

Tao then noticed both M-21 and Takeo standing in the doorway of the dining room, staring at them. Tao jumped from his seat. "You're awake. M-21, you too. Takeo, how are you feeling?" He walked over to them.

"I can barely move," Takeo answered. "But why are we here?"

"I had no choice. You needed a safe zone."

"I see..." Takeo glanced to Frankenstein. "Thanks for everything."

Frankenstein smiled. "Don't mention it."

"What about Shark and Hammer?" Takeo asked but Tao only shook his head, taking a glace to Luciel. "Tao, get yourself together. We failed our mission, but we need to get going."

"Takeo, I don't think we should go back." Tao only protested with his demands. "What are talking about? Because of these guys?"

"No, it's not like that."

"Then what?"

Tao finally broke the truth to him. "Kranz killed Shark."

For a moment Takeo felt like his ears were failing him but the gloom look on Tao's face made him pale. "What did you say?"

"Kranz absorbed Shark's power and that killed him. He told me that DA-5 was created just for him and we increased our powers for nothing. Our powers and life were solely designed to be absorbed by him. I only survived because the miss, the Chimera, saved me."

"The Chimera?" Takeo felt a shiver. He looked as Luciel walked over to them but her kind and nonhostile expression retracted any kind of fear he had for her. "You...killed Kranz?"

Luciel nodded silently. "Yes, but from what I can gather, Tao is telling the truth. DA-5 wasn't a special ops team, just research data." She frowned and bowed her head a little. "I'm so sorry, truly."

Takeo's mouth fell open and his words shook. "What the..."

Tao looked at him grimly. "Hard to believe, right? She's telling the truth. Kranz tried to absorb my power after taking Shark's. Do you really think the Union will be okay with us going back? We lost three agents, and the core subject of DA-5! I don't have any obligation to go back anymore. I will never go back..." He grits his teeth and vowed there and then to never return but that still didn't sit with Takeo.

"But you know we can't get away from the Union, right?"

"Takeo, did you forget who I am?" He said like he was insulted. "I can fake it as we both died from the mission."

"I know you are capable of doing that. But unlike you, I need to go back..." Takeo spoke.

"You want to go back because of your little sister, right? We failed the mission. They won't just let us go. They won't even give us credit for what we have gone through. They'll just blame us. It could be more dangerous for your sister if we go back. You dying on a mission could be better for her. Even if we do tell them about the Chimera, after everything that she's done for us... I don't want them to have any kind of information about her anymore."

Luciel smiled and felt a sense of relief knowing that they'll let the trail get could with their silence.

"Takeo, I will find your sister no matter what." He vowed. "It will be much faster to find her if they don't search for us."

"Tao, why would you...?"

"I never liked the other agents unlike you. I was glad to hear that you were alive."

"Tao..." He bowed his head in defeat. "Okay. Let's just hide somewhere far from here. We can't get others involved in this."

Tao nodded in agreement and they both turned to the household "Okay. I appreciate all your comfort, but I guess It's time to say goodbye. Miss, don't worry, I'll make sure to cover up any trace of you so your location won't be found."

Luciel bowed her head. "Thank you very much."

Tao smiled. "Right, M-21. I got the information you wanted..right before Shark called me to the lab."

You could see the shock in M-21's face. "What?"

"Finding the evidence wasn't hard, but something about it was strange. The clearance level wasn't that high. It was just stored in several places, not just one. It's probably because it was categorized as a failed experiment. I expected to find the information easily, but I failed to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"It's all gone. When I investigated further, I found out that Dr. Crombell got rid of all the documents. They disappeared the moment he left the lab. He got rid of all the experiment documents that were there for years. Why would he destroy data on your guys so sudden? Especially when they were determined as failures."

This only made M-21 question Crombell even more. God knows what was going on in that mad man's head.

Tao and Takeo then turned to leave. "We'll get going now," Tao said. "We'll keep everything about this place a secret so don't worry." but just as they turned for the door, M-21 suddenly called out.

"Wait!" He shouted before looking to Frankenstein. "I have a favor. Can..you let them stay here?" His lips trembled. "I know I don't deserve this. As I'm in your debt. But I can't just let them go. They are disposals like me. When the Union tracks them down, they won't be able to get away. Please..." he felt his heart beating erratically in his chest with anticipation.

"M-21...why are you so nervous?" Frankenstein only smiled though. "If that's what you want... This is your home, too."

Luciel smiled at that and was thankful that Takeo and Tao had a place to say, but the depths of her heart, she felt it slowing down. In the haze of the night, she hadn't felt this cold in a long time as her smile turned bitter-sweet. For her, returning to her old life was impossible and she knew...she couldn't stay. It's not like she didn't want it, she craved it with every fiber of her being for things to go back the way she wanted. She wanted to laugh without care and run around without having the devil on her shoulder. But alas, all good things come to an end no matter how short they were.

Luciel's bright red eyes pierced through the dark veil of the night to peer up at the starless sky. The sky may be empty but the moon was large and bright enough to light the streets while she walked beside Frankenstein alone at night.

"You will take care of them, will you?" She asked. "They seem like nice guys and I hate to see them off on their own with the Union snooping around." She frowned with concern.

Frankenstein closed his eyes and sighed. "It's strange enough that M-21 had to ask himself for them to stay, but I see no problem."

Luciel smiled weakly and sighed with relief. "That's good. I only noticed recently that things have gotten hectic. I don't know why but It seems that more and more things have been coming after me." Her eyes saddened.

Frankenstein scoffed with that thought of the Union being after Luciel. "I don't know if they're brave and stupid or just plain stupid." He was more than well aware of Luciel's abilities. They were indeed very destructive and it's the only reason why she hasn't fallen into the Union's hands yet.

Luciel gave a bitter laugh and pulled her hood up over her head, fearing that the veil of darkness wasn't enough to hide her identity. "From what I can understand...it appears the Union only knows about the battlefields that Magnus and I left behind." She scoffed a bit. "They say that the Chimera has the ability to level mountains. I think they might have blown it a bit out of proportion."

Out of habit, Frankenstein's face twisted a bit with the mention of that Magnus's name. "I never did like him..." He sighed. "I'm surprised though. I thought you would ask to stay as well."

Luciel flinched and instinctively began to walk ahead of him, keeping her words short and her head down. "It's dangerous for me to stay in one place for too long. I can't have anyone get involved with the Union and Magnus on my tail." She needs to leave. She needs to leave as quick as possible because if she stays for to long then it will be impossible for the part with him.

Frankenstein lifted a brow. "It's been 900 years since anyone as last seen you, Luciel. Do you think I care about what's after you after all these years?"

His lovely voice and confident words were like nails in her feet. She wanted to stay so badly that It was almost enough to bring her to tears. "You should! This is Magnus we're talking about. I was only able to give him the slip 70 years ago!" She protested but realized a bit too late that she messed up.

Frankenstein looked shocked. "70 years? Luciel, I have spent all this time looking for any trace of you, but you're telling me that you've been doing nothing all this time?"

Luciel flinched when he began to raise his voice. She finally felt all her defenses crumble as all her gracefulness flooded from her body in a dread-filled cry. She spun around with tears falling from her eyes. "I couldn't look for you!"

Frankenstein froze at her sudden outcry since it was so unlike her to raise her voice. "What do you mean you couldn't? Say's the impossibly strong chimera who can hunt anyone down." Luciel made a step back like she was going to leave but the air around him darkened and she froze in place. "If you try and run away then Magnus isn't going to be the only thing hunting you down." He spoke darkly.

Luciel stood there motionless under the moonlight. Her eyes were redder than normal and her tears stained her face. She stared at him, broken and not knowing what to do anymore. "I couldn't look for you...because...I was scared too." She couldn't even maintain a strong voice, only whispered cracks. "I did want to look for you... I never wanted something more in my whole life, but not knowing what you would say...no knowing if you would reject me, scared me." She sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I don't...I just don't know."

Seeing Luciel cry was rare and when she did it was a cold day. He looked at this beautiful woman whose mind has been scrambled for more than 900 years because of Magnus. She's not only lost but didn't know what she wanted or what to do anymore. Frankenstein knew that she wasn't supposed to be like this, the thing he loved most about her was her smile that could brighten up any room. She wasn't made...to look like this, these broken pieces of a woman in front of him.

The more the silence went on the more he felt the gap widening between them. He knew that this was it, if he didn' say anything now then surely...this would be the end of her. She mind was so fragile and weak right now that he had to say it. He had to say the same words he said to her all those years ago that could remind her...what he truly knew her to be.

Frankenstein spoke up in a strong voice against her weak one. "Do you remember what I said when I confessed all those years ago? On that day your secret was revealed?"

Luciel shook her head. "No..."

He scoffed. "You were always bad at lying back then." He reached out to her and gently touched the side of her face despite her flinching. "I said 'Despite what you think about yourself, I still believe that every ounce of you is utterly beautiful'."

Oh, how she wanted this more than anything. She could drown herself and die just to hear his voice one last time. It was hell, these 900 years was utter hell. Being separated this long made her heart feel like lead, but being with him now felt worse and the guilt and shame began to rise up that was always lingering underneath.

Frankenstein laughed a bit. "I was kind of hoping for you to actually run away."

Luciel wiped her eyes. "What?"

He stared down at her with those devilish eyes that took her breath away. "It would give me the excuse to lock you up." One of his hands ran through her hair while the other slid down her arm. "I don't care who is after you. If they try and take you away from me a second time then...I would kill them before they could even touch you."

Luciel felt like she could melt away when a weak smile cracked to her lips. "Your personality...is still the worse."

His hands held her face as he leaned in close to whisper "Don't try to deny like that's not your favorite part about me."

It was painful to be around each other after such a long time. Like old wounds opening up once again but the moment the gap was closed all the pain faded away forever, or so it was a mask to hide the deep longing and desire to be together once again. The kiss was slow then became passionate that no words could describe. It was fierce, demanding and all the round desperate. He grabbed the back for head and she clung dearly to him.

Though the night melted away, whisperers of 'I love you' and 'I missed you' could silently be heard, but in a world of their own making nothing could pierce this bond that was created a long time ago. The oldest love story in history goes without notice and as quiet as the still night where only the bright moon bared witness too.

Author's Note:

Yo. Kae Aleah here speaking for the first time. I was thinking about this chapter and thought I should clarify some things for you. Now, Luciel, Frankie and Raizel have known each other for a very long time, even before Frankie made a contract. Frankenstein's devotion for Luciel is the same as his loyalty to Raizel so that makes him fiercely protective over both of them. This is not a slow burn romance, that is not what I'm trying to do. Luciel and Frankenstein are just picking up where they left off 900 years ago.

Her struggles through these stories are going to be psychological. She can deal with her other people's problems but chickens out when it comes to her own. Needless to say, she's weak minded. Strong as hell but also scared as hell at the same time. Do you understand? It has gotten better since the first time they met (I will create a flashback sequence of their first meeting in my fifth story, so I hope you stick around for that.) but that's Luciel's biggest fault. Trust me, a lot of crap is going to go down for Luciel. Her worries are far, far from over.

That's all I have to say for now. I hope you continue to bare with me through this story because I know I made a lot of mistakes. Don't forget that I post every Friday.

Have a fantastic Friday and I will see you next week! (Unless you read my Hymn of Scarlet story, then I'll see you tomorrow.) Bye-bye!