To Love a Youkai
Prologue
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. I own Elliett, her mother and father, the earth mage, the fire witch, and Shiye
Birds chirped happily around the open window of the palace in the Makai, a parallel dimension to the human realm. The other world, the normal world, had no earthly idea that they were part of a parallel dimension. Scientists were almost at the brink of discovery; however, they were approaching about it the wrong way. They were trying to rip a vortex open whereas in order to reach the Makai they needed to accept their inner spiritual energy.
The Makai and the human realm were almost exactly alike except for the fact that the dominant species in the Makai were the Youkai, the demons. Humans rarely set foot in the Makai; if they did it was either because they were slaves or they had extremely high spiritual energy. The Youkai consisted of three levels: the animal Youkai, the witches, which were female, and mages, which were male, and the elementals.
The animal Youkai could change into three separate forms; there were the human forms, where the Youkai looked like humans, the half-animal forms, where the Youkai have animal characteristics, and the full-animal form, where the Youkai transform into the animal of their species. Most of the animal Youkai preferred to reside in their half-animal forms; they looked mostly normal but still had the instincts and heightened senses of their animal counterparts.
The witches and mages could cast elemental magic relative to the amount of energy they have. Most were human-like with a few exceptions of animal-witch and animal-mages. The ten different elements that could be commanded are: fire, water, wind, earth, metal, wood, ice, light, darkness, and cosmos. Most of the witches and mages were low level and they attended the mage academy outside of the palace. There, they trained to become fully fledged witches and mages in order to participate in the different careers available to their kind.
The elementals were beings that could control their element at will. No energy would be wasted with the elementals but they could choose to learn elements as they desired. They were extremely powerful, but if they intermarried with other species then they would use up their energy when controlling the element. The hybrids had a huge amount of energy reserves, so it usually didn't matter.
The Youkai used to live with the humans peacefully until one fateful day, when the Queen Loriena was murdered by a spiteful human desiring war. The human, a man who was tortured and eventually killed, hadn't received his wish. Instead, the King Veago was extremely angered by this action and used his almighty power to split Earth into two dimensions; with this action he took all the Youkai with him. He had no family left except for his adventurous daughter, Elliett. Elliett was envied for being the most powerful kind of Youkai: a tri-breed. She was an animal Youkai, witch, and elemental at the same time due to her heritage.
She was a being blessed with immortal beauty; however she considered her beauty as a curse. She always tried to play it down and would refuse to wear makeup in an attempt to look ugly. Many of the jealous servants would criticize her behind her back, sneaking around and tearing at the Princess' clothing. In all honesty, the Princess thought that the torn clothing had a unique type of look; she even wore them out in the gardens!
She possessed her mother's silver hair and her father's glowing ember eyes. There were black markings underneath her eyes and a golden crescent moon shaped birthmark upon her forehead; a gift from her grandmother, who was a cosmic elemental. Both of the marks represented kindness and luck – something she didn't thing she possessed. Eventually, as she grew older, the black markings disappeared and only the crescent moon was left. It, too, disappeared, but reappeared when she was highly emotional.
Both of her parents were Kitsunes, or fox demons; her mother was a silver vixen, or female fox, and her father a golden fox king. She inherited her grandfather's charcoal ears and tail, however, as it contrasted greatly with her silver tresses. When she was a child she was picked on by the other Kitsune children despite the fact that she was a Princess. Being a kitsune she had very good hearing so she heard their comments even across the room. She also had quick reflexes; she learned martial arts behind her father's back but she sensed that he knew what she was doing. She always seemed like the perfect child to him, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. She hated being a Princess.
Elliett almost always wore her hair down, letting it reach the small of her back when it was at its longest. A tiny braid, however, was always behind what would be her left ear when she was in her human form. She loved the feeling of the wind blowing through the strands but she had to wear it up when her father ordered it – it was for the parties and banquets. She normally had it in a bun on the top of her head and wrapped a thin braid around it; an ornate set of chopsticks held it into place.
How she despised her father's parties. Most of them were for his benefit as a woman could not gain access to the throne. Sometimes he invited several women to his bedchambers afterwards; it seemed as if he had forgotten her mother's cherished memory. The Golden Fox King invited handsome mages and elementals, and even some of their Kitsune brethren, however, she and her father were the only rare Kitsune left.
On a normal occasion she wore an ankle length flowing red skirt with tight black knee length shorts underneath; there were slits on either side of her skirt that reached just a little bit above her shorts.
Her top consisted of a tight black halter with a sleeveless black leather trench coat – the coat had silver linings to highlight her hair. Let me enunciate the fact that she wore, to her father's dismay, no makeup to hide her natural beauty. She was quite beautiful at the age of seven hundred…but in human years she would be around fifteen. She was small of stature and had small breasts; she was also talked about for that reason. Most of the maids had medium to large breasts.
Even though the Youkai Princess was loyal to her father she longed to travel to the human world – after all it had been almost three hundred years since her beloved mother's death. Time flew much more quickly in the realm of Youkai – as you can probably tell. She had been concocting a way to escape for some time now; however, all of her plans had been foiled by the servants. They knew how rambunctious she could be and had made sure that she was locked in her room after her latest escape plan.
The silver haired Princess sighed as she stared out of her window, tail swishing sadly behind her hunched frame. Her hair was hanging freely down her back She was daydreaming about humans again as a wisp of a smile grew across her face. The silver and black Kitsune knew that it was wrong of her to be thinking of such troublemakers but once her interest was piqued she knew that it couldn't be stopped. She had such longing for the human realm; maybe it was because her mother used to tell her stories of brave and kind humans.
Suddenly, a knock broke the Kitsune Princess from her thoughts. She turned towards the door with a questioning gaze as she tilted her head to the side. Curiosity tore through her mind as she wondered who was at the door. She was on 'room arrest' due to her latest escape attempt.
"Who is it?" she asked in a soft regal manner, just like her dearly departed mother had taught her. She tried to take after her mother in that aspect, but, for some reason, Elliett had always been a bit of a tomboy.
"It is Shiye, Your Majesty." An obnoxious high pitched voice answered, throwing open the door before Elliett had a chance to reply. The Princess narrowed her eyes, outraged by this blatant show of disrespect. Shiye had been jealous of Elliett because the Princess harbored all of the attention of the handsome King. Shiye, however, was a lower level water witch and was also jealous of the Princess' elemental abilities; she had very powerful ancestors and could control all of the elements, like her deceased mother.
Shiye was also one of the King's playthings. She wanted the silver haired Princess out of the way in order to try to seduce the King into marriage. With the Princess gone, then the mundane water witch would receive all of the spoils a Queen was deserving of.
"Please, Shiye, wait until I answer next time. I could have very well been changing and you know I like my privacy. You would do well to remember that I am the one in charge here, when it comes to my room at least." Elliett scolded, eyes still narrowed. The water witch just smirked, waving the comment away with a roll of her eyes. Shiye knew that she was pushing the Princess' buttons, but she also knew that Elliett was a pacifist; she hated to fight.
"Of course, Highness, but the King wishes an audience with you." The water witch said smugly, turning and flipping her hair over her shoulder as she exited the room. The young Princess analyzed her frame as she left, distaste marring her gentle features. She sighed, bunching her hair into a messy braid. Her father hated to see her hair flowing freely; it reminded him of her deceased mother and he could get quite violent when he wanted to.
The witch would have been considered beautiful if it was not for the horrendous amount of slop she put on her face – it was something Shiye called makeup, but it repulsed most of the men. Shiye wore a low cut dress; the skirt barely covered her rear. She wore high heeled sandals that wrapped around her calves – a great contrast to the Princess, who wore no shoes at all. Elliett preferred to feel the cold stone of the castle and the grass when she was able to escape outside.
The only thing that was remotely beautiful about the water witch was her eyes; they were a startling turquoise. Her eyes went well with her pale blue locks – an unusual color even for a Youkai.
Elliett sighed, getting to her feet so that she could meet her father. In seconds she was standing in front of a handsome blond Kitsune and a black haired earth mage. She supposed the mage would be another prospective suitor; she was nearing the age of marriage and was getting tired of turning down horrible suitors. She bowed in front of the two males, smiling softly at her father and throwing an exasperated glance at the other male. He was quite bland for an earth mage…but she supposed her father was getting desperate.
"You wished to speak with me?" she asked, cringing slightly as the mage scanned her womanly features…well, the features that she was hoping would develop more as she grew older.
"My daughter, here is your latest prospective suitor. His name is Kehmin." The earth mage stepped forward and took her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it.
"Father," Elliett sighed, gently slipping her hand from Kehmin's.
"How many times must I tell you that I don't wish for a suitor? I would like to find my own mate – to experience the love you and Mother shared. I don't want a mate thrust upon me." the mage's smile dropped as he glared at her, tightening them into fists at his side. His father glared at her as well, a low growl emanating from his throat as he bared his fangs.
"Foolish girl! It is high time you stopped these dreams of adventure and picked a suitor to be your mate. Either choose now or you shall be banished to your room for the next thousand years!" Veago snapped, amber eyes glowing in fury. Elliett snapped as well, narrowing her eyes and baring her own fangs at the two males.
"Well excuse me, father, but I don't see anyone here I would like to claim as my mate! I hope you remember what my face looks like for you shall not look upon it for a thousand years!" the silver haired Princess hissed, turning on her heel. She could feel the gaze of her father burning in her back as she made to walk away. She was almost to the door when the earth mage grabbed her arm, jerking her to the side.
"You'll regret rejecting me." He whispered, a deathly glow etched into his eyes.
"No, I don't think I will. Now if you'll kindly let me go…" Elliett whispered back a pulse of heat caused him to yelp. The silver haired Princess yanked her arm from his grasp as he jerked his hand away. She turned on her heel and exited the throne room. Not once did her icy demeanor slip while she rushed to her own quarters; only then did she let her façade fade as the first tear began to slip from her amber eye. Her attitude turned to that one would not expect of a Princess.
"I only want to have a chance at love! Like Mother and Father!" Elliett cried, burying her face into her bed's plush pillows. It was true; she only wanted a chance to feel some of what her mother described. She remembered when her father had stayed up late one night writing a book of poetry, and spent the next day reading it aloud to her mother for her birthday.
Elliett cried for hours in despair, only moving when, hours later, her caretaker placed a comforting withered hand upon her shaking shoulder. She rubbed her hand up and down Elliett's shoulder in an attempt at calming her down.
"Come now, child. Why do you despair?" the kind fire witch soothed, keeping her hand upon the Princess' back until the shuddering ceased.
"Father has grounded me until I choose my mate. I fear that I shall be stuck here forever since I don't sense him!" the Princess wailed, a fresh wave of tears wetting her pillow. Youkai were extremely sensitive when choosing their mate; their hearts can tell when they are near. None of the prospective suitors called out to her so she didn't choose any of them, much to her father's anger.
"Do not fret, little one. This old witch has a few tricks up her sleeve, yet." The orange haired woman cooed into the Princess' flattened Kitsune ear.
"You do?" the distressed silver and black fox Youkai asked, raising her head from her pillows. The fire witch nodded, slipping off one of her old enchanted rings.
"This ring will send you to a place called 'Tranquility, Nevada'. It is a city in the human realm." The orange haired woman explained, much to Elliett's delight. The adventurous side of the Princess flared up; a twinkle flared in her eyes, setting a mischievous glow to her face.
"Keep in mind, child, that if you recite the teleportation spell you can't change from your Youkai form and your memories of this place only will be erased until you set foot on Youkai soil once again." The old witch cautioned, hand hesitating over the young Kitsune's. The Princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath; when they reopened the amber eyes held a gleam of determination.
"I'll do it." Elliett whispered, closing her hand upon the ring and slipping it on her left pointer finger.
"Now recite the spell." The orange haired woman smiled sadly as she planted the information within the Princess' mind.
"I call upon the powers of the elements: fire, water, earth, wind, metal, wood, ice, light, darkness, and cosmos. Transport me to the realm of humans and in return I shall give something precious: my memories." Elliett recited the simple but powerful spell. As soon as those words left her lips her form started to glow, eventually disappearing in a burst of white and blue light.
"It has begun. She will help to save the world from something evil, I know it." The fire witch said sadly, staring at the spot the Princess once sat.