Whirling, twirling. Rosy cheeks and goofy childlike smiles. Strong arms lifting her from the ground and dancing her in the air, swinging her around and around. The smell of soft lilac, the silky feel of dark hair clenched in chubby fingers. Laughing. Playing. Taking picnics on a grassy hillside. Muddy face. Snuggling contentedly between Mommy and Daddy on scary nights. Coddling, cuddling. Those brief pictures were all she remembered of her childhood.
She recalled the worse times as well; the fighting and awkward silences. Zelas-sama's indifferent remarks. Mommy and Daddy didn't get along too well then, though that was normal for them. They never got along, not until one strange day. She remembered the times after they'd reconciled their differences more, however, the happier days permanently burned in her memory.
Razilee sighed and tucked her knees into her chest, staring up at the faux night sky in her bedroom. That was ten years ago. Ten years since she'd last seen her parents. She could still remember the day when Juuou-sama had told her that her parents were dead. She had been horrified, devastated. But not as devastated as Juuou-sama. The Beastmaster had drawn into herself, isolated herself, and was unable to give Razilee any comfort, or soothe her, or relieve her sadness, so busy was she with her own misery.
The only person she could turn to was Daertal.
It was soon after that Juuou-sama began to train her. Though colder and more unfeeling, the Beastmaster had not shirked on her responsibility to teach the young half-Mazoku. Spells for attack, spells for healing, spells for convenience. And her specialty, shapeshifting. Razilee excelled in all of these, though she was always told that her attack spells could use some work.
The clock on the wall chimed loudly in warning, telling the purple-haired young woman that she was already late. The clock itself didn't run on hours and minutes, but the position of the sun in the sky over Wolf Pack Island. Razilee leaped from her spot on the floor and ran out, taking the form of an eagle to help her travel faster. After all, she couldn't keep her best friend waiting.
She drew in one last shuddering breath and collapsed against the forest floor, muscles still convulsing gently. She could feel the sweat on her skin, dripping in little beads down her face, and briefly wished the island's climate wasn't so humid. Her skin was sticky and hot, glued to the grass beneath her and her lover's equally sweaty skin above her. But it was worth it.
Daertal groaned and attempted to shift his position, failing to do so. He was still a bit clumsy in his human form, not used to functioning with such long arms and legs, nor with the strange muscles and bones humans tended to have. Not to mention the fact that he was very, very tired. He was pretty sure that the mating of wolves felt nothing like the mating of humans.
That being the reason why Razilee preferred to have him take on a human form rather than her take on a wolf form. To be honest, he didn't mind at all.
There was some slight movement beneath him, and a bit of grunting. "Daer?" came a soft, small-sounding voice. "Can you...get off me? You're heavy."
The young wolf grimaced slightly. "Sorry."
"It's okay," she assured him, rolling over onto her side. "It's just so hot..."
Daertal raised a hand and watched the sweat drip off his fingertips. "I'm actually pretty comfortable."
Razilee snorted, running a hand through his silvery hair. "That's because you're covered in fur most of the time. You're used to the heat." She heaved herself off the ground and shakily strode to the riverbank a few feet away, extremely aware that the wolf was watching her closely. "Aren't you coming?" she asked, letting the water fully submerge her.
He slid in beside her after a moment's hesitation, aware of another difference between wolves and humans. Humans smelled better after getting wet. Wolves didn't.
The snapping of a twig nearby made him jerk his head up and scan the area quickly, nervously. It was just a squirrel, thankfully. The other wolves might not recognize him by sight, but they'd certainly know his scent. They could not know about this. They wouldn't understand.
Especially his mother. All of his brothers and sisters had been mated except him. His mother didn't understand this. Daertal was a healthy, attractive young wolf who had dozens of females willing to be his. Yet he didn't choose any of them. He'd made the mistake once of telling his mother that he didn't love any of them. She'd bitten him roughly and informed him that love was a human emotion, and that he'd been hanging around Mazoku too long. The wolves befriended the Mazoku on the island, but they drew the line at mating with them. It wasn't natural.
But they didn't know Razilee.
She also kept their relationship secret from Juuou-sama, not sure how the Beastmaster would react. Zelas hadn't been too keen on relationships since her parents' death. Razilee didn't know why, but even the slightest mention of it seemed to hurt her. So she vowed not to say a word about Daertal's shapeshifting nor about their secret unions.
"Daer?"
"Mmm?"
She was snuggling against him again, in the water. Daertal could never get over how small she seemed next to his human form, which was quite a bit taller than she. So odd. But he remembered her mother had also been very small. She must have taken after her. "You wouldn't mind if we...ah..mphmm?"
He nuzzled her violet hair gently. Violet. Her fur was the most beautiful violet when she was a wolf. "Aren't you hot?"
"Yes," she replied. "Burning."
Some time later, Razilee padded quietly down a lavishly decorated hallway in the castle, on her way to receive instructions from Juuou-sama. Although only half Mazoku, she was already beginning to replace her father in the tasks she was told to perform. She didn't think Zelas would make a half-Mazoku her Beast Priest, but she knew there would always be a place for her to serve.
Razilee carelessly opened the door to the throne room and skipped inside, regardless of her age and status. "You wanted to see me, Juuou-sama?" Her voice rang through the enormous room.
Zelas mindlessly tapped her foot to the sound of 'Tortured Humans III' playing on the radio. "Yes. I'm going to be away for a few days. I have some...family business to take care of."
"I didn't know you had a family."
"Well, yes, in a way." She sweatdropped slightly before continuing. "While I'm gone, I want you to organize some of my old documents. The library is getting rather messy, and I don't trust any of my lackeys to do the job right."
Razilee nodded. "Okay."
"It will be quite a job. I advise you to begin as soon as possible." And she was gone.
The violet-haired girl curled her hands into little fists, feeling sad at the coldness present in her master's eyes. It wasn't fair that she distanced herself so. It wasn't fair that she isolated herself. Not fair at all. Sighing, the young woman resigned herself to the library.
Which was a terrible, terrible mess. How long had it been since someone had thought to clean up in there? Razilee sneezed as she brushed dust from a row of books, pulling scattered pieces of parchment out from under them and filing them away to be sorted later. So much work. She would have to reorganize all of the books in the library, dust everything, put all the randomized documents into files, and sweep the floor. The girl leaned against the wall behind her and sighed in exasperation.
Fwwwsh. A block of the wall suddenly pushed in, and a small shelf slid out of the wall on the opposite side of the room. Razilee blinked in surprise. "What did I do?" Apparently some mechanism had been tripped, and she'd stumbled upon a secret. Approaching the small shelf protruding from the wall, she saw a thick book lying upon it, decorated with pink and purple flowers.
She picked up the book and blew dust off the cover before opening it to the inside and reading the inscription there. 'Property of Amelia Wil Tesla Sailoon/Metallium.' Her mother's name. My mother's diary?