Summary: M-21 finds himself in Lukedonia after a training session.

Merry christmas, madamazure! 3

Lost and Found

By Dark Ice Dragon

M-21 came to in a forest. The sun was up, shining through the canopy. The only things he could hear was birdsong and the rustle of leaves as the wind blew by.

...How the hell did he get here?

M-21 grimaced as he got up, leaves sticking to his bare back. He'd transformed and then...he was here. He wasn't covered in blood and he didn't have any aches he associated with after a fight. He was tired though, as if he'd used all his reserves with a transformation.

He must have lost control of himself while training and ran off.

To Lukedonia?

M-21 couldn't name the different kind of trees, but the Lukedonian trees were different enough from anything he'd seen before he could place where he was.

He patted himself down and sighed. He'd left his phone next to his bed to make sure he didn't break it while training. Great. Tao had left some phones in Raizel-nim's mansion in case they needed them the next time they came. If that failed, he could ask one of the Clan Leaders to contact home.

If he'd lost control and then the others had been attacked...

They'd be wondering where he was too.

He climbed up the tallest tree he found and looked around. There was a familiar rooftop poking above the treeline and M-21 made his way over.

It didn't take him long to reach Raizel-nim's mansion and M-21 went inside.

The mansion smelled weird, something M-21 couldn't place. It hadn't been there the last time they'd been there. But it did smell cleaner, less musty. Frankenstein must have left something, or he'd cleaned up while they weren't looking.

M-21 walked past doors, counting to the main living room. Tao had left most of his stash in there since that was the room they'd used the most.

"Why did you need so many rooms," M-21 muttered, finally getting to the right one.

He opened the door and blinked. "Hey." Raizel-nim was there, standing at the window like he normally did.

Raizel-nim turned around to look at him.

"Were you waiting for me?" M-21 said, walking in and falling back onto the sofa. How long had he been out for if Raizel-nim and the others had been able to track him down and come to Lukedonia by the time he'd regained his senses?

He closed his eyes with a sigh, leaning his head back on the sofa. He could go find where Tao had put their spare clothes, but if Raizel-nim was here, it meant the others were safe and he didn't need to hurry.

He heard the door open and someone step in. It wasn't Tao, since he would have thrown himself at M-21 already. The person paused at the door and hn.

He opened his eyes a slit and saw Frankenstein in his Lukedonian suit. "I'm fine," M-21 said, sitting up, a little more conscious that he was shirtless on the sofa. "Just tired."

"That's good to know," Frankenstein said, studying him. "Can we help you?"

M-21's eyes snapped open and he stared at Frankenstein, his insides dumped in ice.

There was the little crease between Frankenstein's brows he had when he was trying to hide how irritated he was, but it was the mildly polite expression that made M-21 stop breathing, his heart lurching.

The lack of recognition.

What...?

Frankenstein wouldn't joke about that. He wouldn't pretend he didn't know him.

What the fuck was going on?

"...I'll go make tea," Frankenstein said.

"You will need to prepare for one more," Raizel-nim said. Shit. Raizel-nim didn't recognise him either?

Had he just wandered into a stranger's house? Was everything he remembered a lie? But he knew Raizel-nim and Frankenstein, so what the fuck? Had something gotten twisted around like what Aris had done to Takeo?

Frankenstein sighed. "Yes, Master." He bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

Raizel-nim walked over and M-21 eyed him, not sure what to expect. He was a complete stranger to Raizel-nim, and he'd just invaded his house.

"It will not be long to wait," Raizel-nim said, sitting down on one of the chairs across from M-21.

Right... It would still feel like years.

"Yo, Raizel!" Movement at the window Raizel-nim had just left, and someone hopped in.

M-21 sucked in a breath, staring at Muzaka, who tilted his head when he saw M-21. Muzaka was wearing an open jacket lined with fur though, showing off that he wasn't wearing a top underneath. It wasn't like anything M-21 had seen him wear before, but then, maybe he'd never seen Muzaka before either.

The living room door opened again, Frankenstein wheeling in a trolley.

"Oi, Frankenstein," Muzaka said, throwing himself down next to M-21, "what're you doin' kidnapping one of my lot?"

Uh. Muzaka was mistaking him for a werewolf?

Frankenstein gave Muzaka a dry look, setting out the teacups. "Use the door next time. And he isn't one of yours."

It was good hearing Frankenstein reaffirm his humanity, but it still stung, hearing it like that.

Muzaka squinted at M-21 and then made a noise of acknowledgement, watching Frankenstein pour the tea. "The window's faster." He put his feet up on the table, making M-21 wince.

Frankenstein poured tea for all three of them, and that didn't match up with M-21's memories either - Frankenstein only served Rai. There was no aura pressure in warning, but would Muzaka have listened to that anyway?

"Now then," Frankenstein said once he set the teapot down, "if you could explain who you are and what you're doing here?"

"I...don't know?" None of this made sense. Tao would think he'd fallen into an alternate dimension but those didn't exist. Or time travel, but... M-21 glanced between the others. He knew Frankenstein and Raizel-nim had lived here before South Korea, and that Raizel-nim had been friends with Muzaka. Had been. But they seemed friendly now, or friendlier than how they were at 'home'.

Things started clicking into place and the dresser Tao had put all the extra machines was empty too.

Was he in the fucking past? Lukedonia didn't change that fast, not when it was filled with nobles so differences wouldn't stand out.

How the fuck had he done that? Had it happened because he'd transformed?

"What do you know?" Frankenstein asked, one eyebrow raised slightly.

Shit. What could he say? If he said he thought he was from the future, they'd think he'd lost his mind. Which might have been what had happened.

"I found myself here," M-21 said and that was true enough.

"And your name?"

"Min-gyu," he said, taking the name from his ID. They wouldn't believe his codename.

Frankenstein nodded, humming.

That was it? A stranger had just walked into their mansion and they were fine?

M-21 turned his head when he heard Raizel-nim drop a sugar cube into his tea.

"You can stay in one of the rooms here," Raizel-nim said, sipping his tea.

M-21 stared at him.

"You seem surprised," Frankenstein said, Muzaka huffing a soft chuckle.

"Well. Yeah," M-21 said, looking between them all. "You're just going to help me?" A complete stranger? ...Which meant they'd never changed either and had always been like that, offering up their home to others.

"Of course." Frankenstein added a few more sugar cubes to Raizel-nim's sugar bowl. "You need assistance, and since our future selves helped you, then I'm sure they want you back as soon as possible."

M-21's eyes widened. "How did you figure it out?" He'd barely realised and he'd at least met them all before.

Frankenstein's eyebrows rose again. "It was obvious. Now, if you excuse me, I need to start preparing my lab. Please see me when you're ready." He bowed towards them and then left with the trolley.

Raizel-nim and Muzaka didn't look surprised either, and had he been the last one to figure it out? ...Probably.

Though this was Frankenstein he was talking about, so of course he put the pieces together the fastest. M-21 lay his head back on the sofa again and sighed.

"That is one reason how he knew."

M-21 looked at Raizel-nim from the corner of his eyes. There was a small smile on Raizel-nim's face before it was hidden as Raizel-nim sipped his tea.

"And the others?"

Muzaka chuckled, stretching and leaning his elbows on the back of the sofa. "You came into Raizel's house and sat around like you were used to it and Raizel." M-21 grimaced. Right. He'd seen how the Gejutel acted around Raizel-nim. "The only other person who's done that is me." And Muzaka was the werewolf Lord, someone equal in standing as Raizel-nim and wasn't afraid of a fight. "You either didn't care about what you were doing, or you cared enough about them to be comfortable."

"Oh." It really was obvious that something was up with him.

Muzaka threw his head back and laughed.

But...it was good he wouldn't have to hide or pretend with them.

[-]

M-21 glanced at the wooden door before pushing it open.

The room inside was lit with candles, Frankenstein sitting at the desk there, a journal open in front of him. He wasn't writing though, the quill dripping a dark puddle under it.

That was...weird. M-21 was sure Frankenstein would have been a flurry of movement, trying to gather as much information as he could, but he was just staring at a wall.

Frankenstein exhaled, turning around in his seat to look at M-21.

"Tell me," Frankenstein said, one hand listlessly flexing over and over on his knee, "since you are so familiar with Master, then that means he is no longer alone in the future?"

Oh. That was it. Could he tell him? He'd watched those time travel movies with Tao and Takeo, and there were those supposed different rules that could mean he wiped his entire existence or changed the future M-21 knew.

Frankenstein was studying his face, a desperation there that M-21 had never seen before.

Raizel-nim wasn't alone here, not completely, since he had Frankenstein and Muzaka.

But...

How many silent rooms had M-21 walked past to get here? How far was Raizel-nim's mansion from the other nobles?

How long had it been from the last time another noble or even Muzaka had visited?

Frankenstein was still waiting for his answer.

How many centuries would it be until Frankenstein found out by himself?

Fuck it.

"The house is a lot smaller," M-21 said, "but it's full and loud with people visiting every week. Sometimes daily." Though anything would be fuller and louder than the mansion as it was now, each step echoing back at him.

Frankenstein exhaled, a tremor going through his body as he closed his eyes. "I'm glad to hear that," he said softly. "Now then," he said, opening his eyes and squaring his shoulders as he stood up, "let's get you home."