November 1

“Ahem… Wait… Princess? You?” I realized right after that what I said was wrong as she started to pout.

“Well… that… kind of hurt, I try to take care of my proper image, you know. Yes, I am a princess. My dad’s name is King Jol Wara Azuraine, and my real name is Kyo Koura Azuraine. That’s why I like to be called either Kyoko formally or like you calling me, Kyo.” She stopped pouting for the second to think about it. “You seem to be taking this easier than I thought you were going to.”

“Well, it’s you. Yes, it is terrifying that I could piss off someone so powerful by liking his daughter but he already wants both of us taken in and my head on a platter.” I wasn’t truly worried. I already died once, that is the mindset that I have to go by.

“I have a few question though. Why are you in armor and killing people? I thought you were the Royal Guard? Does that mean you can kill anyone that threatens anything about you? Also, why did you risk everything to save a person like me?”

“Just read this part from some pages I tore from your journal and you may understand.”

She opened handed me two pages that look like the ones that were from my notebook.

It took me about twenty-five minutes to read the pages but I understood the gist of it.

“Well, first. Good penmanship, very captivating. Second, you felt something for me even before you met me? I’ve never been so touched.” On the outside I was joking around but on the inside, I could barely hide my excitement. She heard about me and felt something; I just had to die to see that someone could. Sometimes death is cruel but I don’t believe that it’s against me.

“Yes. I felt something but I didn’t know what it was until you fought with me and held your ground. My father wanted you dead because of the Dark Veil but…” I had to stop her.

“He knows about this thing, this curse, whatever it is? What’s the purpose of him wanting me killed? It’s all because my ancestors had to mess with something they should not have, why do I have to pay because of it?”

“He only said to kill you once he had heard that you were alive but when I asked him why, he was willing to take me away from the Guard. I worked day and night to be one of them and I wasn’t willing to lose it.”

She continued, “My parents were never truly parents to begin with; they just pushed what they thought I should act, think, and be like. So, the first second that I was considered an adult, I left. Junlos and Shia raised me as a warrior growing up and that made me want to be in the Royal Guard.”

She took a seat next to me on the step as she reflected. Even though I didn’t ask about it, I can see her dedication and passion for Shia and her responsibilities.

“I’m happy you were raised the way you were, I like your hard to change demeanor and the way you can easily talk about your past. It makes me happy to see you like that. Also, I have a question to ask you.”

“You chose me to bring back to life and even turned me into an Ushia because of how you feel? Also, how does one go into the process of becoming one of the living in this world and where do people who weren’t saved go?” I grabbed her over-turned hand and looked her in her eyes, I was serious.

She showed shock by jumping a little but smiled at me all the same and responded.

“Yep, does that bother you?” She looked at me with glaring puppy dog eyes. Out of pure instinct, grabbed her close and buried her face in my chest. If I had taken more of that look, I would have had a heart attack.

“Only someone from royal lineage or from a person with some form of power can change someone into any form of Underling, as we call it.” She paused for a second, her voice almost welling with sadness.

She continued, “Sounds cruel, right? Being stripped of your humanity and being placed in the same category as your savior? The people that I have killed turn into either Owos or Mercentry, depending on how they lived. Being an Owos isn’t that bad because of their effects are needed but they can’t be reasoned with easily. Mercentries are the lowest rung of society; you saw what they looked like in that battle.”

“Thinking about it now, I was not much of a person to begin with. I lived for my own benefit by shutting myself out to everyone. The second that Nathan decided to jumped off the roof, time went a million times slower. I fought back against you because something inside me wanted to live, wanted to keep going even though I felt truly dead inside. I thought life wasn’t really as bad as I had previously thought. Once I had opened my eyes to the room I was in, I felt wrong and terrified and hurt and confused. Almost like a dear in headlights, I freaked out. I remember one thing that you said before I died. “You are mine now.” What did that mean?”

I looked up to see a bewildered look come across her face almost shocked that I had remembered. “As a Royal Guard you have to normally say, ‘It’s your turn to sleep.’ But only if you are sure that the person is worth saving, do you say ‘You are mine now.’ Then the person is bound to your soul and you basically own the rights to them.”

I pushed her back a bit in surprise, “So I am basically your pet, in a way? That’s kind of cruel but having a good master isn’t that bad.”

She started to pet me on the head and said “Good boy,” as if mocking me.

“Only the person I truly see as a… a soulmate… can see this.” She stood up and I slowly saw something swaying behind her. What… is that?

She turned to show a wolf tail flailing semi-widely behind her, excited and nervous. It was bushy and looked extremely soft. It was snow white on it’s under side and almost blue in its tone of grey on the top. It complimented her porcelain with a bit of peach skin tone almost perfectly.

“Umm…” I was mystified with it, I had to touch it. “That… umm… It’s majestic.”

I looked up to see her looking away as her tail slows down a bit from flailing.

She truly is nervous. I think she mentioned something about it before, isn’t it a personal thing?

Oh yeah, in the diary entry. It is basically saying that they are taken and very happily so.

“What do you think of it?” Kyoko says while her eyes pace back and forth as her right index finger lay on her bottom lip.

“May I touch it? I really want to. No, I need to.”

“You have to hold me really close while you do it so you can’t see my face, it’s either that or not at all.”

I agreed calmly and slowly pulled her close. I kissed her on the cheek as I told her that I would be gentle.

I may sound like a pervert or something but this was the rarest opportunity to feel a tail on a person. I wanted to understand the excitement I have seen in shows.

I started to pet her tail slowly. It was softer than it looked and made me feel immediately happy but I knew it was making her feel uncomfortable so I stopped shortly after.

“Sorry.” I said, a little embarrassed myself.

“It… it’s… okay.” She smiled and winked with her emerald green eye shining predominantly from seeing my expression.

We heard a loud thump from inside the shop then a loud yell for us to come in.

We ran through the door to see Shia collapsed on the floor in Aster’s arms gasping for breath.

We gave her water and some herbs to get her breathing steady but it was the only short term treatment that we knew.

Aster was sitting next to the bed with his left hand in Shia’s and his head in the other. Kyoko and I sat across the room in silence for what felt like an eternity until he started to speak.

“I’m coming with you to Hauk. No question. I can’t stand seeing her suffer like this.”