The Past Doesn't Stay In the Past
Azriel wasn't always Death. He had a life before he was chosen, a family, friends, a lover...his dying changed all that.
To Begin[]
Death has two days he ignores his job. Two days a year that no one dies, although they get really close. A lot of times the next day he lets the candle burn out as soon as the morning comes.
One of those days is the days she died and joined him, Dolores understands why that's a day he closes himself off during.
She doesn't understand what's so important about this day.
At first she thought it was because it was the anniversary of when he died, but he told her countless times that he didn't even remember when he died and barely remembered his actual life. And Death had never lied to her yet.
Perhaps it's just a day he needs a break from his work.
even if he likes his job doing it 365 days a year, even only 364 days a year, has to be tiring.
But Dolores knows that today is the day he takes a break.
And she decided to go home and see him.
He doesn't always want her by him today like he does the day she came to join him, but she often provided a needed distraction today anyway.
Plus Vivienne was driving her crazy today.
Her hands grasped the doorknob and the chill dampness of the underworld came rushing at her. She smiled, feeling relaxed in a way she couldn't at the school because of the rush of familiarity as she steps through.
She's standing in the main hall of home.
She doesn't see Death.
He's not in her room.
Nor is he in his office, she checked.
Or the herb garden.
He's probably walking through the outside. He didn't know she'd be here today and sometimes when she shows up unexpectedly he is walking outside.
She decides to wait for him in her room, but as she turns to leave his office, she catches sight of a door.
Dolores has never seen this door before.
Probably because she's never had a reason to look at it.
He's probably in there. She knocks on the door. But he's not there.
The door gives way beneath her hand and she enters it.
In the room, there is one single candle. Charred from being blown out, and fairly short. This indicated that the person lived a pretty long life and probably died of natural causes.
But Death never kept any candles, except her own and probably his, and those were both in his own room. What was this one?
Dolores paused a bit, remembering something. Death had matches. Special matches, he used to relight the candles when he felt someone deserved their second chance, she was not allowed to touch them. Hey he never touched them.
But she ran to his room and pulled the box from it's special spot. He had shown them to her when she was eight, when he told her all about his job, telling her that it would be her job eventually.
She carefully pulled one out and headed back to the room, carefully striking the match and touching it to the candle.
Nothing happened.
The candle didn't reignite. Maybe she didn't remember how the matches worked or maybe Death could only do it, she shrugged and turned.
Pausing when she realized she wasn't standing in the room anymore.
Nor was she standing in the Underworld.
She was standing outside of Ever After High.
Only it looked different.
Azriel[]
Dolores didn't know what was going on. But she wanted to get back home, so she whirred around to try and find a way back to her home.
She was cut off from running when she collided with someone.
"Oh, are you alright?"
Dolores was staring.
This was a kid, about the age as the first years, but she could swear he looked familiar...
"Oh um, yes..." Dolores backed up a bit, still staring. Not only did he look familiar, he was dressed in old fashioned clothes...
Come to think of it so was everyone else.
Dolores had suspected that she wasn't in the world above she knew but every ensuing glance around, every detail, proved that she was right.
But where the hex was she and who was he and why did he look familiar....
"Are you sure your alright?" He pressed when Dolores still hadn't said anything.
"Yes." She could feel the questions about what she was wearing. She's not exactly modern or trendy with her clothes as a lot of the living beings told her, but she certainly didn't fit in with the style of wherever she was.
Not wherever.
Whenever.
Somehow attempting to relight a long dead candle sent her back in time.
It was strange but magic always was, especially when it involved Death...
Dolores figured the right thing to do was to find some place to wait for Death to find her. Or for the magic to wear off, surely that would let her go home.
But as she turned to leave another voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Azriel we don't want to be late!"
Azriel.
The familiar looking boy laughed as he ran to join up with a family.
Azriel might be a common name in this time, it probably was.
She didn't know how common a name Azriel really was.
But she was in the past and talking to a young boy, a boy younger than her, who looked familiar and just so happened to share an uncommon name with her weird fat...guardian who attended high school a century ago.
That was Azriel.
That was Death, pre...death.
Dolores followed him.
Valentina[]
"Thank you for seeing me off today..." A girl about Dolores's age was talking to Azriel.
(You know the more she thought about the less weird it was getting.)
"It's not gonna change right?" Azriel asked, clearly trying to keep the tone light hearted but failing at it as he was geniunely concerned that something would change.
Which was confusing Dolores. More than the fact that Azriel was talking to a girl. Azriel who claimed that Death cannot love despite the fact that she knew he loved her, just didn't say it in as many words.
"Nothing's going to change, there's no destined lover in my story." She smiled.
Dolores then realized. This was before Azriel died, before he got the destiny, which would mean he didn't go to the school yet. And his girlfriend, unless they didn't use that term in this time, had a destiny.
"I mean, alright..."
The girl hugged him. "i promise nothing's going to change. I do my school, then I do my story and then we marry and have a lot of kids."
"Seven."
"We'll see." She laughed as she kissed him.
Dolores was feeling very uncomfortable, as she was watching her guardian flirt with someone. not only that she was watching him kiss her...she had every right to be weirded out.
"I love you Valentina."
Valentina. Really, Azriel's girlfriend was named after St. Valentine's day? How much sense did that make?
"I love you too Azriel..."
Okay, Dolores did not know if people could throw up after they died but she almost felt like she could so she walked away from the scene.
Not very far though, since Azriel's, Death's, matches sent her back here, she must need to find him to get back to her home.
But far enough away that she couldn't hear them talk.
She turned around at the sudden chill, hoping that it would be Death, her Death, not the teenage version of him.
Indeed, it was Death. But not the Death that raised her. She could tell because the hair, this Death had longer hair that reached his chin. Dolores suddenly felt afraid as she started to back up, even hearing the flirting would have been better than this.
Although Death was nice to her, she knew that that wasn't going to be the case for every undead person she meant.
Instead he put a hand on her shoulder. "You lit a long dead candle."
She nodded.
"It had been lit before."
Dolores wasn't sure about that...
"Don't interfere with what you see here." He instructed.
Okay that was kind of rude, but Dolores recognzied the ominous undertones and decided to not say anything...
"i'll find you later to show you something..."
"Can't you show me it no...where did he go?" She demanded.
Legacy Day[]
Warning: Death by House fire Mentioned
There was a rush of cold air.
But not the comforting cold of the underworld, this was a harsh cold.
And now Dolores was sitting in the audience at some sort of event.
It took her a few seconds to realize what it was...Headmaster Grimm was approaching a large book posted on the podium.
Legacy Day.
This brought to mind a lot of questions, like, how old was headmaster grimm, they apparently didn't change the way Legacy Day was done until Raven...
"I am Valentina Princess and I am ready to pledge my destiny!"
Dolores perked up at the name. Although she still thought the name Valentina was ridiculous and kind of on the nose for Azriel's girlfriend, she was trying to figure out what had happened between now and her Death, her Death who claimed that Death couldn't love and seemed to speak from experience.
Come to think of it where was Azriel? It was his girlfriend's legacy day, even if he wasn't a student surely he would be allowed to be here...
As her eyes scanned the crowd, she almost didn't notice Valentina's expression as she watched her story play out. It seemed to go from calm to nervous to panicked to resigned in the span of a few seconds.
As she finished signing, Dolores smelled a bit of smoke.
Smoke.
She stood up, grateful the seat the magic had given her was in the back, to see the source. She squinted a bit and saw a wicked glow. A wicked glow that reminded her of the candles though harsher...
Dolores apparently wasn't the only one to notice, because someone, she recognized him as one of the people that had been with Azriel when they yelled at him that they were going to be late, came running in. "Fire! There's a fire!"
"Sir this is a very..."
"My son's in there!" He yelled again.
Valentina gathered up her long dress and practically flew off the podium.
Headmaster Grimm looked torn but nodded. "Alright, did you call the fire brigade?" He asked business like.
"They're here, watching this event..." It did not escape Dolores' notice that he spat the words out as if they tasted bad...
People finally got moving, but Dolores and Valentina got to the house before the others.
"Azriel!" Valentina yelled.
Nothing.
Part of the house fell down.
"Azriel!!!!!" Valentina yelled.
Dolores had the ability to go through fire without being burned, she couldn't die a second time. She moved to run in, only to be restrained by the different version of Death.
"I said don't interfere..." He growled.
Dolores opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, someone came out carrying a charred and burned form.
"That's how he died." Dolores said quietly.
"That's why I said don't interfere..."
The version of Death approached the crowd, but following at a respectful distance.
There was another rush of cold air and Valentina was crying as she paced back and forth.
"Maybe it's for the best."
"Mama!" She scolded.
"Honey you know that you wouldn't have been able to marry him, you know what your destiny had a chance of being..."
Valentina rolled her eyes and Dolores was confused. She thought that Valentina had no destined romance in her story.
Mostly though she was grateful for her black outfit and hair to let her blend into the shadows...
Valentina looked back at the door and Dolores peaked through a tiny crack.
She saw the version of Death she hadn't recognized kneel down in front of the body of Azriel, and take his limp hand.
The burns melted away into ghastly pale skin and his hair darkened as the version of Death, who she now gathered was Death's predecessor, helped him stand.
"What's going on..."
Dolores decided not to eavesdrop.
Dolores Interferes[]
Dolores was still stuck in this time, though she was unsure as to why. She had already seen her father figure be killed and brought back to life...what else was she supposed to see? Probably something involving Death's girlfriend, it was probab.y her candle she had relit.
She was standing in front of Ever After High, and Valentina was walking in.
She stopped at the sound of someone running to her.
"Valentina, Valentina, Valentina!!!"
Dolores turned at the same time the living girl did, recognizing that was an incredibly excited Azriel, and she wasn't used to hearing that much emotion in his voice.
"A...Az...Azr..." Valentina couldn't find her voice, which Dolores had been expecting. When she had meant...Anastasia Miller's parents and told them who she was, they had pretty much done the same thing at first.
Dolores should leave but curses she still wanted to see where this was going.
"It's me!"
"You died!" Valentina yelled, eyes bright with unshed tears.
"No, no I was brought back to life to fulfill the role of Godfather Death it means..."
"It means you can't love me."
Dolores froze. No no no no...
"What?"
"Your dead. Your Death. Death can't love. It would have been kinder to me if you had stayed dead!!!" Valentina yelled as she turned on her heels and ran.
Death can't love...
Dolores wondered what made him think of that and now that she knew, she was getting mad.
A quick look at the complete dejected look on his face made her anger boil over as she picked up her skirt and took off running after Valentina.
The other Death's warning about not interfering with what was going on echoed in her mind but she was already so mad. That simple sentence stuck with Death for at least a century, because she knew he thought that nowadays, and it was all because of his stupid girlfriend.
"Valentina!"
"Yes?" She had been crying...Dolores didn't let that stop her.
"I can't believe you told him that Death can't love when he was so excited to be brought back to life so he can love you!"
"I don't know who you are but you need to leave me alone." Valentina said in an even tone of voice.
But Dolores was still mad. "You've never meant Death before how could you just act on a stupid assumption?!"
"It's more complicated than that!" Valentina yelled.
"No it isn't!"
"I love him!" Valentina suddenly realized how many people had heard that before the she flushed and grabbed Dolores by the arm, leading her into a dormroom.
"i love him, and I will always love him, that's the problem."
Dolores didn't get it. If she loved him, she should be overjoyed that she was able to see him again.
Valentina sighed. "I'm destined to be the next Princess from Godfather Death..."
"Wait...you knew that? And you led him on!"
"I hoped and wished for a different ending and I didn't get one!"
"So tell him that, don't make it his fault!"
"Leave me alone now." Valentina turned around.
Dolores paused, hearing Valentina sniffle. But she couldn't feel sorry for her, not when she was blaming Death for her lies.
She turned to leave and was face to face with the other Death, with his arms crossed and foot tapping.
"Um!"
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her way. "I said do not interfere, didn't I say that? You might have messed something really big up..."
"I couldn't just stand by and let her think that was okay..."
"Hush!"
Family[]
Dolores watched as Azriel appeared in her line of sight, and she went out to tell him what Valentina's destiny and why she said what she did, but the other Death put his hand on her arm. "No." He scolded.
Dolores frowned, this wasn't her legal guardian she didn't have to...
"Azriel?"
That was the voice of the man from the Legacy Day ceremony. He was knocking on the boy's dormroom. "Azriel I know you sent a message saying you wanted to stay here over the break but...we would love to see you son."
Azriel walked to the door as if he was going to open it.
"We're just glad your back, you being dead doesn't change how much we love you..."
Azriel jerked his hand away and headed back to his bed.
After getting no response the man left.
Azriel clenched the side of the desk as he took some deep breaths.
"Good..." The other Death said.
"Hold up, that is not good..."
"I didn't say it was something I wished happened, but it's what happened before you interfered, I don't think your interference did too much."
"He...just ignored his family?" Dolores said. "Because of what that..."
"Don't say it."
"I was going to call her a witch..."
"no you weren't." The other Death said before sighing. "Yes he decided to ignore his family because he didn't want them to be hurt because he couldn't love them..."
"That isn't fair..."
"Life and Death is seldom fair. Now I can show you one more thing then I must get back to being retired..."
"Retired?"
"Well it's not like I can die again now is it?"
Dolores nodded slowly as he took her hand and the scene changed. It was like she was watching a montage, of Valentina's life, getting sick and being rescued because the Physician loved her so much he disobeyed Death, marrying someone else, not crying at the physician's funeral, having children, and there was one constant.
Death was watching.
His hand was over his heart as if it hurt him to watch this and Dolores felt tears burn. He still loved Valentina, this had to have been enough proof that Death actually could love...
And then the woman died surrounded by her loved ones, kids and grandkids and great grandkids.
Azriel/Death watched the flame go out before he ran to get a match.
he relit the candle.
The elderly lady opened her eyes again and he watched with a bitter smile as her loved ones cheered.
But even a second chance at life doesn't last forever as the candle went out again. Rather than relight it like Dolores had foolishly done, he locked it in the closet.
"It's the day she died that he takes off..."
"it hurt him, what she did, and he never got closure. I suppose I should thank you though..."
"Why?" Dolores turned.
"Well you've proven to him that Death is capable of love, at the very least familial love." The other Death said.
"Wait what do..."
The other Death was gone.
Found Family[]
And Dolores was standing in Death's office again, candles providing the only light to the damp room.
"I hate that guy." Dolores muttered. "And that girl." She said louder for good measure.
Then she heard footsteps and the click of the doorknob turning. Dolores paused. Would she get in trouble for being in his office when he wasn't? Sometimes he got mad at her for that, sometimes he didn't.
"Well Dolores, this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you today. But you could have come and found me I wasn't that far..."
Dolores just stared at him, seeing the boy that went through way too much and was hurt in many ways before he was her age, shining through. He wasn't just Death, her guardian, the one who raised her and got his job done perfectly. She knew that now.
"Is something the matter?" He bristled with protectiveness but Dolores ignored that.
Instead she threw her arms around him, catching him off guard.
"Are you sure your okay?"
"Yeah I'm okay..." her voice was muffled by his robes but he could still hear her. "I love you Dad."
She felt him stiffen. Whether it was because she never called him Dad before or because they didn't tell the other one they loved each other, which was probably because of Death's past experiences and fears, she didn't know. But she didn't care.
His hand ran through her hair. "I...love you too Lory." he hesitated as he hugged her back.
"Now why is the door open?" He asked, noticing the swinging open room.
Dolores pulled away. "Um...let's not ruin the moment."
"You're right, I'll ruin it tomorrow..."
Dolores chuckled a bit.