It's the noble adoptees who view Frankenstein as a role model more than the human ones, especially early on, but the Trio are from the Union and scientists are scary. They also first meet Frankenstein in 'scary as hell' mode, while Seira and Regis meet him as Principal Lee.
Regis and Seira remember having parents (and Gejutel), so the household is not outside their experience. Given Rozaria and Karias, this isn't even the first time those two have found themselves adopted by strange people.
I love episode 360 for Frankenstein complaining to Rai about the Trio risking themselves to gain the power to protect others and Rai visibly realizing that Frankenstein has been hit with the Parent's Curse – "May you one day have children who are just like you."
Of course, Raizel isn't going to point out that it's the pot calling the kettle when he's a cast-iron skillet.
Rael is an unstable bundle of issues mostly caused by justified feelings of abandonment and partially by the fact that Ignes Kravei should never have been allowed anywhere near an emotionally vulnerable child. How Rael acts in scenes is highly dependent on what buttons get pushed, and given that Seira, Regis, Rajak and enhanced humans are all buttons? Even very early on, he evacuates the humans in an area in advance when he knows he's going to be fighting there.
Rael understood why Rajak had to train, when Rael's Grandia was the reason his brother was incomplete. With the traitor clan leaders and the vile enhanced humans out there, the Kertia were Lukedonia's warning system and first line of defense against the traitor nobles and the Union. Rael understood that even before Seira and Regis lost their families.
Like Rajak, Rousare was incomplete because Gejutel's soul had not joined Regasus, but the previous Loyard clan leader had a complete soul weapon. It still wasn't enough against the traitor nobles and traitor humans who helped them kill the Landegre and Loyard clans.
Those disgusting enhanced humans… it was not possible for them to kill Rajak, it simply wasn't!
…But if a human could force Rajak, could even force their father to acknowledge the power of this Frankenstein? Then, then what if this 'Union' really could…
It wasn't just the insult and finding out that Rajak knew Rael was the reason Kartas was incomplete and Rajak had to train so much. Rael had to take apart the enhanced humans to learn how strong the traitor humans were, and who had made the things. This 'Union' – he had to kill them all, before the Kertia Clan died like the Loyard and Landegre.
Two of the traitor clan leaders were dead. There were only four more of them out there, and Frankenstein had killed one of the humans who abandoned humanity before Rael arrived. The werewolf had fled from the Noblesse with her tail between her legs, and Rajak had praised him! Even if he had come to assist Seira, not the humans, and had no idea his brother would be there.
He hadn't managed to detect the signs that his brother was in the area, when Frankenstein had, but then neither of them had found signs of Rael's presence, so it wasn't that embarrassing.
They had been invited to stay under the Noblesse's own roof, instead of trying to find decent lodgings in a human city. Rael had used mind control to get rooms in the best hotels on his training trip while he learned to how endure the insults of humans without losing his temper, otherwise there was always noise.
Here, however, it was quiet enough for them to sleep. He'd offered to stand watch so his brother could sleep – Rajak had arrived at the battle first, and been injured protecting Seira – but Rajak had looked disappointed at him. Even if Rael had run away before the explanation of the true nature of the Noblesse, it was unbecoming of a Kertia to assume treachery on the part of comrades who had fought beside them. Even if they were in the human world, and one of them was an enhanced human.
An enhanced human with their father's approval?
When Rael woke up, Rajak had already left their rooms. He flushed as he dressed. He hadn't been fighting as long as his brother, so he shouldn't have needed more time to recover. And he'd missed his brother leaving the room! Or had the Kertia clan leader used their clan's power of stealth to avoid waking him?
He found his brother sitting on one of the couches that were on either side of a low table. The Noblesse sat at the head of the table, as was proper, and Frankenstein sat across from the Kertia clan leader.
"Rael," Rajak said.
Rael snapped upright. "Yes, brother?"
"Come here. We are discussing training."
"Yes," Rael said, and hurried to sit where his brother indicated. Right next to him.
"Our father benefited greatly from training with you," Rajak said, looking at Frankenstein but clearly for Rael's benefit. "Seira is also far more capable than she was when she last assisted me with my training."
The Lord had placed Sir Rozaria in charge of Seira's training, and Sir Karias in charge of Regis' training, even though Regis had not yet inherited Regasus and should have been trained by Gejutel regardless.
Rael had wished he could train with his big brother, but when his father's soul weapon came to him, after his father entered eternal sleep with the Previous Lord? He… Rajak couldn't know.
But Rajak had known all along, and wasn't angry.
He'd been afraid all that time, and… had he really thought so poorly of his brother? And of course his father wouldn't fail to warn Rajak that his power would be incomplete!
Frankenstein smiled. "As I told you, Ragar Kertia was also a great deal of help to me in my attempts to master my own soul weapon. Of course I'm willing to assist you with your training, but since the situation with the Union is stable, for now, and you and your brother are here to assist Miss Seira, there is some… private training I need to seize this opportunity to do."
"We would be honored to protect the Noblesse in your absence," Rajak said.
Rael found both of them looking at him. "…Yes?"
His brother turned back to the human with an approving nod.
"In my absence, my master's knights are responsible for his protection," Frankenstein corrected Rajak with a smile. "Miss Seira will assign the two of you your duties. Once I return, as I said the most efficient course of action seems to be to focus on Rael's training."
Rajak nodded. "I have my duties on Lukedonia. Rael will have to return there to pay his respects to the Lord eventually, but I will inform the Lord that he is training with my approval."
Rael gulped. He hadn't even thought about how leaving Lukedonia without permission would make him look like the traitors!
"If Frankenstein trains you," Rajak told Rael, "then when you return to Lukedonia we can train together."
Really?
"And once he's passed my lessons on to you, Rael can return to my home for more training. If that's acceptable to both of you?" Frankenstein asked, looking between them, before focusing on Rajak.
Of course Rael nodded, even though he was wondering why the human said this was his home. Wasn't it the Noblesse's?
Rael dared a glance at him. He'd defeated two clan leaders who summoned the spirits in their soul weapons to send against him. His dignity, even saddened by how they'd abandoned their honor and turned against the nobles, his calm reserve… Cadis Etrama di Raizel, even his name was elegant!
…Not that Rael was obsessed with elegance, like little stuck-up Regis, but it was still admirable. In people who actually had it, unlike Regis with his bratty, talkative mouth.
What the Noblesse said about Rael's father, how he had always unfailingly proven his honor in silence? Rael was nowhere near a century old when Ragar entered eternal sleep, but yes. That was… yes.
"We were speaking of how we would repay you for your generous assistance," Rajak said.
"Miss Seira assists me in serving my master, and Regis has become one of my master's knights – of course, since the Lord is the Symbol of Authority, Regis' oath to Erga Kinesis di Raskreia when he becomes a clan leader will take precedence," Frankenstein said. "This is more than enough to repay me for the time spent on their training and the cost of Ye Ran's tuition fees."
Rael did not like the smile Frankenstein wore as he said, "My school has a special security force – you've met M-21, Tao and Takeo."
"That trash?" Rael protested. "Brother, you can't…" Order Rael to fight beside them?
"Be silent!" Rajak ordered him. "Calling enhanced humans trash, in the presence of the Bonded of Cadis Etrama di Raizel?"
Rael instantly went pale and shrank back before daring a glance at the Noblesse as Rajak bowed to the human, apologizing for the insult and the noise.
Sitting at the end of the table, said exalted being sipped his tea, kindly ignoring Rael's insult and both of them being noisy.
Silently, Rael thanked him for his generosity.
"Those who choose to abandon humanity are trash," Frankenstein said, and Rael blinked to not see fangs in that smile. Why was this human so like a noble? No wonder even Miss Seira hadn't been able to tell that he was human. Perhaps it was his contract to the Noblesse. "M-21, Tao and Takeo did not choose anything. The Union stripped their identities from them, and forced them to serve it. They have chosen to fight the Union to protect humanity: they are not traitors to their own kind like Zarga Siriana and the other traitor clan leaders, and I'll thank you to not compare my master's knights to that trash."
"His knights?" Rael stared at him with wide eyes. "…Is that why Regis was fighting alongside sc-I mean, enhanced humans like that?"
"Regis and M-21 first fought together to defend innocent humans against Union agents."
Rael didn't care about innocent humans. That was how the Landegre and Loyard died, and he hated that the same thing was so likely to happen to his brother. But he wasn't stupid enough to say that in his brother's presence, and the Noblesse would certainly not approve. "I see," Rael said instead, ducking his head to hide any flash of annoyance.
"I would offer to allow Rael to enroll in the same class at Ye Ran High School as my Master and Miss Seira," Frankenstein said, "but I'm afraid that his stealth training has been deficient."
Rael started to bristle, but Rajak nodded. "I heard that he made a great deal of noise and attracted Union attention when he went into the human world to bring the Loyard clan leader the Lord's message. However, Rael told me last night that he left Lukedonia to go on a training trip in the human world, to improve his ability to avoid losing his temper when faced with insults or perceived insults. I believe he is determined to overcome that shortcoming and gain the ability to blend in with humans."
"Then he won't object to additional training," said Frankenstein. "I believe Rael also expressed a desire to become the next Kertia clan leader after Ragar entered eternal sleep?"
Rajak nodded.
"Would you object to Rael being trained to assist you with your duties as clan leader?"
Oh? What was this? The human he'd underestimated so severely was… Was this why his father had acknowledged this human?
"No," Rajak said. "I'm aware of my inexperience. With the loss of the Landegre, the Kertia have been forced to take over their duties. I believe my father said that you were the reason that he and Gejutel took on the task of improving our oversight of noble activities in the human world? You made him aware of how nobles were abandoning their honor and allowed him to be of service to the Lord by dealing with it. It is another reason he felt grateful to you."
"There must be a great deal of not just administrative tasks, but intelligence gathering and analysis, involved in your post, is there not?" Frankenstein smiled when Rajak nodded. "As I've said, I am the head of a high school – both the Chairman and Principal. This involves organizing over a hundred staff to manage thousands of students, as well as managing logistics and making contacts with other organizations, while gathering intelligence on prospective students."
Rajak gave him a truly respectful look. "Managing that many children…" Incredible.
He gave them a modest smile. "Much of it comes down to effective leadership: choosing the correct staff and delegating intelligently. Rael, I'm not certain of your ability to pass for a human child not much older than Regis, but I would be willing to accept you for training as an 'intern.' First, I will show you how the administration of Ye Ran functions and you will assist me with paperwork to train you in managing an organization and analyzing reports. Once I am satisfied with your ability to pass for a human, I will allow you to take on some secretarial duties during school hours."
"It is a pity that I must return to Lukedonia," Rajak said, eagerness showing through his reserve. "Rael, would you be willing to teach me this as well when you return home?"
Rael was about to complain about doing servant work for a human when Rajak spoke. His dignified brother's words shocked him. "…Really?"
"Power is not everything," his brother scolded him. "Those skills are invaluable for a clan leader. Frankenstein is the Bonded of the Noblesse: any clan leader would be blessed to have his student for their second-in-command."
The human smiled. "You flatter me," he said, but it was clear that he agreed that the flattery was an understatement, if anything.
"You really want me to learn this?"
"Rael, if you learn this, then I would gladly step down and give the leadership of the Kertia to you," Rajak told him, with complete seriousness.
"Brother, that's not…" Rael started to say, and couldn't say the rest of it. I don't want it anymore! I just want to help you, instead of being a burden! Instead of being the reason you're weak!
When Seira was watching over Regis as he went to lunch break along with Shinwoo and the others, Takeo came to ask Regis to join an RK meeting in Tao's security station. Since Frankenstein and Cadis Etrama di Raizel were not at the school, clearly she needed to attend to provide adult supervision.
"What is this about?" Regis asked when they arrived to find M-21 already there.
"I got a call from the house," Tao said, now that everyone was there. "Boss got Rael Kertia to agree to being an intern!" When Seira was not the only one whose calm was unruffled by this news, he explained, "That means minion. Unpaid minion."
"Rael is going to live with us?" Regis looked worried. He was always very excitable.
"Yeah, he's…" M-21 scowled.
"Boss'll handle him," Tao said gleefully.
"It's not just his inelegance! When Seira told him he wasn't her type and walked away when he kept being talkative? He lost his composure and started breaking things!"
Seira realized that if Rael did that in the home of her housekeeping teacher, it would end far worse for Rael than a mere ten years' confinement. It would be none of her business, but Frankenstein was her teacher and she could not allow someone to cause him difficulties.
M-21 seemed to agree with Tao that this was a problem that solved itself. "The rest of us need to be ready to duck and cover." Yes, the weaker members of the household would need to avoid the houseowner while he was unbalanced.
"Rael is also not his type." Seira had learned to imitate Cadis Etrama di Raizel's little sigh. It was a very good way to tastefully convey one's embarrassment that someone was being noisy and hopefully make them realize that they were being inappropriate and stop without having to be noisy or talkative oneself, the way Regis was when Rael's inelegance embarrassed Regis just looking at it.
She remembered what happened the last time Frankenstein was displeased by Rael's conduct at his school. Seira had been forced to intervene and break up the fight before there was any more property damage. Even if Frankenstein had behaved with appropriate courtesies and she would have been willing to testify to this before the Noblesse if she was not called back to Lukedonia, it was simply poor conduct. Yes, Rael had sent the humans away to safety beforehand, but honestly. The humans needed those buildings and her teacher was a human (even if she was uncertain at that point), so he had no excuse for not knowing that.
"Suyi said that if I had any more 'hot guys' who were not my type, she would be willing to take them off my hands. I will make inquiries when we return to class."
Regis gave her one of the expressions of confusion that were understandable from someone who had not yet reached his majority. "But Suyi is elegant." What would she want with Rael?
Seira nodded, taking out her phone to begin texting. "She is Rael's type, and she is used to dealing with those of the same type as Rael at her work." Male idols were often prima donnas. "She informed me that she might be willing to ignore how difficult Rael is if he is sufficiently 'hot.' I will obtain pictures and give her a detailed description of the nature of his difficulty."
Yuna and Suyi commenting some time ago that Seria was 'surrounded by hot guys' had confused her. She had looked around the room to see: a child she was responsible for; three even smaller children (closer to two hundred than a hundred years younger than her); her household management instructor (she would need these skills to restore her clan); and a strange and high-maintenance being (she was not aware of the Noblesse's identity back then, but despite his exemplary dignity he was still not her type).
Later, after Seira told them that she had previously rejected the proposal of yet another immature person, they had explained their strange reactions by introducing her to the 'reverse harem' genre, and Seira had resolved to trade Yuna the Angsty Werewolf for Yuna's Unlucky Childhood Friend.
"What about the age difference?" Tao asked.
Seira nodded. Yes, that might present a problem disposing of her own Unlucky Childhood Friend. "He may be too immature for Suyi." Suyi was a career woman, while Rael was Rael. Hopefully, she would find him an acceptable 'trophy blond.'
When they got home, Raizel was the only one in the main room. Not long after, M-21 heard Rael yelp, "They thought I wanted to do what to Miss Seira!"
Regis looked up, but Raizel and Seira ignored the sounds coming from the upper balcony. Tao looked thoughtfully at the door to outside, but Takeo put a hand on his arm and shook his head. Tao frowned – he was modified for information gathering – but decided that not escalating the situation with a noble prone to property damage was the better part of valor.
Frankenstein came down five minutes later. "Master, it seems that Rajak will be taking his younger brother back to Lukedonia. He will send Rael to join us when he's recovered."
Raizel gave a dignified nod and sipped his tea.
"What did he do?" Regis asked, looking a little worried even if he and Rael were officially not friends, complete with stabbing.
"I intended to explain to him that his sexual harassment of Miss Seira was unacceptable, and it seems that no one ever explained to him, or to Rajak Kertia, what sex was." Frankenstein looked around the room with a raised eyebrow.
M-21's sex education from the Union boiled down to the fact his genes were proprietary and he was not allowed to have any, or leave any other evidence of his existence, but he didn't want to know. He'd read the stuff in the staff handbook about students and co-workers, so he should be fine, right? He bet he wasn't the only one avoiding Frankenstein's gaze.
"I believe the Previous Lord mentioned it," Miss Seira said, and M-21 winced. There went his hopes that the subject would be dropped.
"The Previous Lord was often… talkative on the subject," Raizel said, with a pointed sigh.
"…Ah," Seira said, and M-21 prayed that was the end of that.
"If you'll excuse me, Master," Frankenstein said after a moment, bowing.
Raizel nodded and Frankenstein left, thank goodness.
Now as long as he didn't come back with diagrams…
When Frankenstein returned home from his 'training trip,' he found Raizel standing on the balcony and joined him there.
"So this is why you are more injured than when you left," Master said when he examined the items in the box Frankenstein opened and presented to him. He looked as though he was regretting missing school the day before Frankenstein left so Frankenstein could take the readings he wanted, if the outcome wasn't Frankenstein feeling better but the human coming home injured and in pain.
Of course he could see that the earring (an imitation of the Lord's design) and the links of the four chain bracelets were made with Dark Spear's power.
"I will recover, unlike you," Frankenstein said, still holding out the padded jewelry box, because he could not allow the sadness in Master's red eyes to sway him. This would help Master, therefore he would do it.
From his expression, Master had to admit that he had no right to object, when he had allowed himself to suffer wounds that would not recover with mere rest in order to save others. Including Frankenstein. Not that this was repayment. For this to be a transaction would demean it. They were bound by contract, for as long as they both lived.
A too-pale hand picked up the earring. The change in the atmospheric pressure when he placed it in his ear and it activated was dramatic enough to create a gust of wind, and Frankenstein winced at the reminder of just how badly his master had been bleeding.
Raizel stood there with his red eyes closed in meditation, and when they opened and met Frankenstein's, he could see that his master's attention was no longer divided. Good: Frankenstein had been right that having his power more concentrated within his body would improve Raizel's control enough he could finally make more headway on repairing his body, instead of just trying to stay on top of how damage to one organ, or blood where it shouldn't be, would damage others.
Normally a noble's control over their body was too great for cancer to be a concern, but if their healing and cell generation powers were not under sufficient control, there were all sorts of nasty possibilities for a body without most of the human body's mechanisms.
Cadis Etrama di Raizel was a dead man walking. They both knew it, but while his master could accept it, could even be happy that he got to spend the brief time he had left in the wonderful place Frankenstein had made for him, Frankenstein could not.
It was impossible for human to live a thousand years, and yet it could happen. He could not, would not, give up. He did not tolerate the destruction of his possessions, and his master was not a mere possession.
"What is this?" Raizel asked, interrupting Frankenstein's thoughts by picking up one of the bracelets. His curiosity was genuine, but of course his master had sensed his grief.
"That is a charm bracelet. They are in style again," or they would be within five minutes of a noble wearing one – his master could make anything look good, although he had very specific tastes. "The charms can represent people, or events, or anything you would like."
But these dark silver charms had specific meanings, he thought as he watched Master slowly go through them, one by one.
A wolf's head. A laptop. Takeo was a little difficult, when his signature was a weapon and Takeo was not. Master let the hairbow pass without comment. Crossed knives for the two children left behind by Ragar, who despite his power was as simple, direct and stupidly decent as the Landegre.
When he came to Lukedonia, he'd wanted to punch those two clan leaders in the face the way M-21 and the others wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine after their training. When he left… he couldn't trust anyone on Lukedonia, not with his master vanished, but those two… yes, he had wanted to see them again, and not only because that would mean he'd found Raizel.
A small silver unicorn. A frying pan with a hole in the center – it wasn't that he held a grudge (better his cookware than his student's skull), it was that he liked nobles better when they were willing to admit they were as fallible as any human. It was good that Seira appreciated the importance of proper testing, even if he was having a hard time luring her into the sciences given her understandable dislike of the Union and its human enhancement.
An apple. Frankenstein had taken care not to have any symbols or motifs show up in his work or personal items after the Union started tracking him, and he certainly couldn't use Dark Spear to symbolize himself when they were their own people. It had to seem a somewhat random choice to his master, but he would know it by process of elimination.
Master carefully put on the bracelet and lifted up the other one that had charms on it. A teacup, a door and a window; Master paused, and Frankenstein saw he'd reached the instant ramyeon packet.
He could feel the warmth of Master's happiness at the memories, but the Noblesse still sighed, because he knew what Frankenstein was trying to do, and he knew that Frankenstein knew he knew.
The Previous Lord had also tried to get Cadis Etrama di Raizel to see that there was more to life than psychic interrogation, forced eternal sleep and a lonely mansion. Tried to give him a birthday, an identity other than the Noblesse. Reasons to live.
The earring was a seal, but the bracelets were focuses. The Noblesse threw up a blood field first thing in combat because it multiplied the effectiveness of his techniques against those with blood, and meant he did not have to use as much power to fuel his techniques. Unfortunately, blood fields could be broken and the other traitor clan leaders would have practiced the technique, just like Zarga and Urokai. It would be easier to block attempts to destroy the bracelets. As for blocking…
The charms were energy deflectors, because Master's inability to train without dropping dead meant his ability to dodge was unreliable and he usually blocked attacks, even though that cost power. Blocking someone's strongest, most desperate attacks was intimidating, and projecting invincibility and implacability was a job requirement for the Noblesse. It was hard to scare the hell out of clan leaders.
Frankenstein would know. He'd tried. The Lords doing it simply by existing was a puzzle until he began unraveling the secrets of the Sanctuaries trying to locate Master.
The charms might be made out of soul weapon, but they'd still burn out their energy nullifying attacks from a noble's soul weapon. Technically he could have made more, but any more than that during a first trial? The risk was unacceptable. He'd survived experimenting on himself by taking care to keep to the right side of the thin line between desperate and stupid.
Raizel looked again at the first charm bracelet, carefully lifting up the apple on a fingertip. "You have…"
He'd known that Master was the Noblesse. He would be able to read what Frankenstein had done to make each of them.
His ability to control Dark Spear and the pain and blood that came with summoning it were enough to manage the earring. Gathering power from it to make the bracelets was pushing it, but easier than he'd expected, when the bracelets were meant to help kill enemies and the Union's victims loathed it.
Protective charms?
"I will recover," he reminded his Master. His soul wasn't mortally wounded. He could afford the equivalent of blood donation.
"I liked the life you were living when I woke up in this time," Master said, sadness in deep red eyes. "I wished for you to keep living like that. In this place, you smile all the time. You had a home where your things were safe, instead of your labs being destroyed." Usually by him, to keep them from falling into Union hands, but Raizel knew how much destruction and disorder in his environment upset him. Back then, it was just one more straw for the pile of rage against the Union and the nobles, but it mattered to Raizel. "You weren't getting into fights." Master worried for him, when Frankenstein was always fighting and of course Frankenstein fought the strong, not the weak. "You were surrounded by students, and no one was scared of your power." The way they were scared of his Master's.
When Raizel woke up, Frankenstein wasn't conducting desperate, reckless experiments like letting Dark Spear tear off pieces of his soul so he could use them to craft soul weapon-type items that weren't running on the desire to hurt others as they had been hurt.
Souls grew. The harder people lived, the more they were themselves. Whatever sent Raizel into a coma had burnt up enough of him that it took eight hundred and twenty years for the Sanctuary system just to stabilize him. Master had known when he woke up that he wasn't going to recover (not without help…), and his priority was doing the most he could with what he had left.
Frankenstein had a terrible suspicion of just how badly they had hurt Master. For one of the only people potentially capable of fighting Master to vanish at the same time? The obvious hypothesis was that the traitors had somehow forced Master to have to fight his only friend, and how on earth had they managed it? Raizel was too gentle to attack anyone without reason, and Muzaka had no reason to attack him. Had the traitor clan leaders somehow managed to mind control the Werewolf Lord? But if so, why was Raizel alive? He would not be able to bring himself to harm an innocent in self-defense, so a controlled Muzaka would have slaughtered him the first time Raizel was unable to block in time, distracted by trying to free Muzaka's mind. The bar against harming the innocent was why he still couldn't bring himself to manage a single kill in Counterstrike despite Frankenstein's attempts to explain to him the concept of video gaming.
An ordinary human soul wasn't powerful enough to become a soul weapon, Frankenstein had determined. He'd thought that once human lives became longer that would change, and if noble souls could accrete over the generations, then human souls joined together for a common cause might be able to hit the threshold of power necessary for a soul weapon. How like the Union to turn 'for the sake of a common goal' into 'having massive numbers of people all die of the same cause.'
Frankenstein had intended to become a soul weapon whenever something went wrong and he finally died.
Then he discovered the true nature of the Union, he'd found Dark Spear and, well, he couldn't just leave them there.
The way he couldn't leave another living weapon just standing there, lonely and full of the kind of quiet despair that came from accepting there was no such thing as hope. Only duty.
"The Union was gearing up to attack Lukedonia and seize control over the world openly. My peaceful days would have come to an end before long," Frankenstein told him, even though it was no consolation.
"But it would have come later. You would have had longer like this." Just like Frankenstein wanted Raizel to have longer to live. To truly live, not stare out the window at the world he could not join because he was created with a duty. The other charm bracelet was closed around Raizel's delicate wrist (humans would have to fumble around, trying to do that one-handed without practice). "The you who cares for children… your soul was not meant to kill." A delicate finger touched a tiny pair of glasses.
Frankenstein chuckled. Master, really? "Neither is yours."
Distant pain for a moment. "I must." 'I'll do it – you don't have to' – Master wanted to say that so much, and it tore him apart that he couldn't, the way Frankenstein couldn't tell Master that it really was alright for him to rest until Frankenstein could find a way to help him, they weren't going to need him.
"We will," Frankenstein promised him, because even if the odds were still against him there was such a thing as hope. As making a way. "Once they are safe, my power can be sealed away again, and I can start examining which universities are worthy of your consideration."
He would just build one, but there were only so many hours in the day, even for him.
Especially with a war to wage and a patient to save.