I will not promote this as a romance story. Yes, Youko and an OC interact through out this story, but it's very much just an exploration.
If you enjoyed this story by the time you finish, read its sequel Seams and it's little footnote Entwined. Remember all three stories are complete; Tryst will not be updated with new chapters, so no need to add it to story alerts! Fave it instead!
Rated T for some sexual references and innuendo, I suppose. The OC blatantly, though briefly, talks about her sex life. Nothing graphic. Sorry if it seems longwinded.
Edited on: 11/07/08. I edited this chapter so it would flow better with the end of the story (which came as a surprise to me), and just to make me feel better about it; I had actually written this chapter on a whim, with no story in mind, to keep myself busy. I'm happier with it now.
Tryst
One
I suppose I should start this by introducing myself. It's the proper way. You, like everyone else, may call me Juliet. It's not my real name, but I have no intention on sharing that with you. It's something that's mine, not yours; you have no right to have it with you.
Where I was born and when is of no importance, and my age does not matter. It's not often that demons can keep track of the years anyway. Time in the Makai is virtually non-existent.
What you do need to know is that I am quite obviously a female, and while my name is from European literature, I am not European in any way. Obviously, the Makai spreads further than the regions of Japan and Asia in general, but those other areas are not where I am from. Regardless, I can still speak the language of most of the farther regions.
Juliet was a name I happened upon on accident, when I fought with an English demon. He said, "Such tragedy… like that of Juliet… but you are much more vengeful than she."
I scoffed at this, and killed him, but I was intrigued. I had never heard of Juliet, and did some investigating. Finally finding the book, I read it. It was incredibly dense for a human piece of literature, and was apparently meant to be performed. How the actors and actresses could handle what the lines asked of them for two hours was beyond me.
It was then I realized that humans could be incredibly long winded. But I digress.
The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one which involves love growing in the worst place, in the middle of a feud. Many die, many love filled words were exchanged as well as some condescending and witty ones, and eventually Romeo and Juliet die together and the feud is resolved.
But I didn't want to see the story as a whole. I wanted to see Juliet. And through the long winded lines and unnecessary banter, I could not grasp who Juliet was. Obviously, she was young, only thirteen, and foolish enough to fall in love after one meeting with her enemy. But I was neither a child, nor so foolish. So why would I be compared to Juliet?
I would spend a lot of time picking apart the character of this Juliet when I had nothing better to do, but life as a female demon isn't the easiest, so it was rare I could sit and ponder over this young woman.
In reality, I spent most of my time avoiding males during various mating seasons, times which I often had to find other ways to pleasure myself since I refused to give myself up to any male and had no desire to give unto him offspring that he might kill.
When I wasn't doing that, I was stealing, fighting, living really as most demons did.
Now, allow me to stray off the track of this introduction for a moment, before you get the wrong idea about me and jump to conclusions as living things are prone to do.
Because I do not want a male does not mean that I seek female company, nor does it mean that I am not sensual or ready for such things. I was old enough to bear tiny demons many years ago.
But I do not like the idea of giving my body to one of those filthy males (or females if the occasion calls for it), so I simply keep my body to myself, much like my name.
To get back on track, it took me a good amount of time to even get a tiny bit of understanding of Juliet's character, but despite this, the name Juliet caught on. I was soon being called Juliet by many different demons from many different regions of the Makai.
I didn't complain. I was no longer title-less to others. I had a name for myself, one that I didn't mind casting away to others.
My abilities weren't exactly feared, as a simple, tiny, female that conjures daggers is hardly what demons deem interesting or threatening. Nor are the slight psychic abilities I have, since they're hardly of any use. No, what other demons found interesting was my body; my flexibility, my markings, my hair, what I wore.
I became the object of desire, and I must say, it felt quite good, despite my distaste for these demons. Knowing that you're an object of desire does wonders for your self confidence, trust me. It also did wonders for my powers of manipulation. It was intoxicating and I spent more of my time using my status to get what I wanted and make it easier to kill. I should have known that eventually, the status I held would only bring me trouble.
TBC...
Youko shows up in the next chapter, so hold your horses.