Fan Fiction ❯ Pure Essence ❯ Day 4, Part 2: Memory ( Chapter 9 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

“Ruri, hurry!” an impatient girl hissed, tossing her lavender hair over her shoulder.

“I am, Lucretia!” said Ruri, checking a few of the photo’s which were nearly dry. Nearby another girl was hurriedly correcting some last minute notes she had added to her article for the news paper.

“I’m finished, Lucretia!” the girl announced, holding her notebook out for the lavender haired girl to read.

“Well it’s about time, Anna,” Lucretia snapped and grabbed the notebook. Her eyes barely skimmed the pages as she looked for the last minute add-ins just to be sure they were right.

“We should use these, Lucretia.” Ruri motioned to a few of the photographs that were already dry. Lucretia tossed Anna’s notebook back to her and whirled around to see the pictures Ruri had taken.

“Yes!” Lucretia exclaimed, barely able to contain herself. “First the picture of the Seraphim and that stuck up Princess with her baby sitter entering the library. Then those of the Seraphim and her highness’s wet nurse trapped outside. Then breaking back inside... and finally, the pictures of-“

Lucretia, Ruri, and Anna all whirled towards the doorway as it opened.

“This room is for use of the journalism club only!” Lucretia snapped at the intruder. “Leave right now!”

“Too bad for you...” said the intruder as he stepped into the room. “I want those photographs.”

Nancy nursed the hot cup of tea that Sarah had made her just before she and Zhou had left. It was a special blend of white tea that was supposed to enhance an Angels powers, hopefully it would coax her into transforming back. Black tea, as Sarah had explained, would bring out demonic energies and green tea would suppress her energy all together, making her mortal.

But green tea and black tea were both very rare, and white tea was so expensive that only the highest classes could afford it. She placed the small cup back onto it’s saucer and leaned back against the cushioned arm chair.

She was in a large, comfortable room with only a cabinet in one corner of the room and four chairs that were seated around a large, square table. Upon the table was a tray of assorted finger sandwiches, cookies, two cups, two saucers, and a pot of tea.
The only source of light was from three hanging lights directly over the table in a triangle formation. The four walls sported landscape paintings, probably of the gardens in the shrine on the ninth plane. The most decorative object in the room was the table itself. Carved into the table was a compass pointing to each direction then, above each arrow head, was the carved symbol of one of the four thrones.

She sat at the head of the table in the northern seat, tracing the elemental’s symbol with her eyes. Her mind drifted as she thought of the angels and she sighed, wondering if they were alright. She forced a smile and shook her head, dispelling the fear that she was letting in.

Three rather loud knocks broke her from her thoughts and she jumped in her chair, eyes darting to the closed door on the other side of the room.

“Come in!” she said. Nancy shifted uneasily in her seat as she watched the doorknob turn. Zhou hadn’t told her much about his friend, only that he was very well adapted to his demon blood.

When the door opened and the young man stepped into the room she understood why.

He was about an even six feet tall in height with a lean build and pale skin. His hair was light blue, short but very messy and looked as though it spiked out in different directions around his head. His eyes, she noticed, were hard and slightly narrowed so that he was scowling at her. At first glance the iris of his eyes appeared as black as his snake like pupils, though when he stepped inside the room and sat down she could see that they were in fact a dark red in color.

His clothes were very strange looking. He wore a black, short sleeved shirt with a light blue design that wrapped around the left side, black leather pants and boots that gave him maybe two inches of height, a matching belt that sort of hung at his waist, slanting downwards on one side with the weight of a small pouch, and black wrist warmers with light blue, adjustable straps.

She breathed in deeply and was surprised to find a faint scent of alcohol and frowned slightly. The man leaned back in his chair, frowning back at her and she realized that he was eyeing her just as she had been eyeing him.

She swallowed hard and forced a small, cautious smile at the man Zhou had called his friend.

“I’m Nancy,” she said, introducing herself to him.

“Shin,” he said rather curtly. Nancy felt warmth rise to her cheeks as she realized that he was the one who had walked in on Zhou and herself after they had...

“Would you like some tea?” she asked, motioning to the pot. His upper lip curled slightly into what she thought to be a look of pure disgust and she stiffened. “I... I’m sorry, if you don’t like tea then I’m sure I can find you something else.” She leaned towards the cabinet and placed a hand against the table, intending to push her chair back if she needed to get up.

“Zhou told me that you’re a half blood,” he said. His voice was soft, with a deep tone that sounded almost sad in a way.

“I’ve never transformed before,” she said, placing her hands together on her lap while looking down at the table. The man seemed rather well adjusted with his demonic side, but she felt so uncomfortable...

“It’s not bad. I’ve seen some angels who retain light hair and eyes when they transform, you can barely tell except for their wings. You’d pass pretty easily for a demon. Though, I guess that’s a bit of an insult for you, Highness.”

It was slight, be she caught it. When he had called her “Highness” the tone of his voice had changed just enough so that she could tell he didn’t think much of her already.

“I’m not insulted,” she said. “I don’t care about blood lines.” Nancy watched as he frowned deeply, almost glaring at her.

“You’re a Princess, you’ve only ever been around high ranking, fancy angels and snot nosed kids from the academy... it’s easy for you to say you don’t care. You’ve never seen the difference.”

Nancy didn’t argue back at first because part of what he said was true. Though, he seemed to think that because of her status her life was simple. It wasn’t, it never had been. When she didn’t speak he placed an elbow on the arm of his chair and laid a hand over his mouth, probably hiding what she guessed to be a smirk by the glint in his eye.

“I know the difference. I’ve spent time on every Angelic Plane. I understand how hard it is to live for some people, and I know that there are plenty who resent the higher classes. But that doesn’t matter to me. I don’t blame them at all...”

“You can’t possibly understand how it feels to live with everyone looking down on you, judging you based on what you are without any chance of proving yourself different!” His hand came down to slam on the table as a fist and she stiffened.

“Can’t I?” she asked. “When you looked at me, did you not only see a Princess? You don’t think I can sympathize because you think my life is easy for me?” He sneered at her and she glared at him.

“Isn’t it? You have your choice of what to do after graduating from the best academy in the planes. If you want something all you have to do is ask for it and a servant will bring it to you-“

“I do not have an easy life,” she said, cutting him off in mid sentence. “I was pre-approved to get into the academy based on my grades. Grades I’ve always works hard for. And I have no choice of what I will do with my life, everything has been decided for me. Even as far as to whom I am betrothed to.

“I can’t have friends because they’d be targeted when someone tries to go after me. There are only a few servants in my house who are allowed to come near me because of assassination and kidnaping attempts. When I was young I had to withstand spells to make me immune to poisons and simple curses, and I’ve worked with tutors for hours a day to learn defensive and offensive spells just in case something does happen.”

“Really?” he asked, eyes shining mysteriously as he leaned forwards. Nancy tried to blink, she tried to turn away from his deeply penetrating gaze but his eyes held her. “We shall see.”

Her mind was flooded with memories- old and new, many that she didn’t want to think about. But there was one that stood out against the others, a vivid memory that stopped her breath and caused her chest to tighten.

~*~FA

She chewed her lower lip as she pondered her way through the labyrinth in the Angelic Shrine. For her sixteenth birthday Yasuyoshi had placed a special gift in the center of the labyrinth, and she would only get it if she could find her way through the maze.

It sounded a lot easier than it was turning out to be. The tall, green hedges rose well over her head and part of the agreement was that she wasn’t allowed to fly. There was no way to mark where she came from and more often than not she found herself passing by something that looked very much like something she had already seen.

There were small benches, statues, and fountains all made of crystal and glass in various parts of the labyrinth. Nancy saw a bench ahead of her and decided to rest there, as her feet were beginning to hurt for walking such a long time. She sighed when she sat down and smoothed her pleated skirt over her thighs.

Far off she could hear the soft chirping of a few birds and thought to her self that, if she found her way through the labyrinth, she might ask if she could spend a few days in the shrine. While it was turning cool in other parts of the Angelic Realm, (autumn was very close) the shrine would remain spring like all year long.

She placed her hands on her knees and straightened out her arms while pushing her shoulders forwards, stretching them as best she could before she got up to try taking a left turn not to far from her. With one last, heavy sigh she pushed herself to her feet and headed to the turn.

For a moment, just before she reached the turn she felt a slight chill and hesitated. She reminded herself that Yasuyoshi had ordered the labyrinth empty and a few guards had already gone through just in case. Apparently there were still a few in the Labyrinth, keeping an eye out should anything have gotten through their earlier checks.

Reassured by this knowledge Nancy took another step forwards and made the left turn.

She immediately regretted it. She had managed to turn the corner in time to see one guard slitting the throat of another. The man, already on his knees, made a sort of gurgling sound as his blood spurted from the gash and reached out a hand for her, grasping at her as he fell forwards.

There were many things that hit her as she watched the guard who had murdered his comrade start towards her. The only thing that made sense was a single word that she nearly screamed in her mind to have her body catch up.

RUN.

She stumbled slightly as her feet began to move, but she ran al the same. The guards fingers just brushed her arm as she fled from him, taking the nearest turn and following it as far as she could.

She listened to his footsteps behind her, her own heart pounding in her chest, and made every turn she could find in the labyrinth in hopes of losing him in the maze. But she couldn’t seem to shake him and she soon found herself trapped at a dead end.

The area was a wide circle with the only exit behind her, blocked by the man she had fled from. She turned back to him, her breath coming in frightened gasps as she slowly took a few steps back from him.

He turned slightly away from her and waved a hand at the entrance/exit to the circle. With a rustle of leaves the hedges grew closed and Nancy began the tremble, she was trapped. He once again started towards her and she looked around for anything to use as a weapon.

There was nothing but a crystal fountain that seemed to have been neglected for quite some time as it had vines and flowers growing all over it. Nancy saw the guard make a jerking motion with his hand and felt something grasp her wrist and yank her downwards.

She stared in horror as a vine from the fountain freed itself and shot out to wrap around her other wrist and pull her towards the ground. She hit the ground on her side and began pulling against the vines that only tightened as she struggled.

“Very nice, Princess,” said the guard. Nancy looked back to him, eyeing him wearily as he removed a syringe and pulled off the protective cap to reveal a very long, sharp needle. “At first I didn’t think I’d enjoy some kid, but you’re pretty grown up already.

She was still until he came close enough, then she kicked at him, causing him to draw back suddenly. “You won’t get away with this!” she screamed at him, hoping someone was close enough to hear her.

“Don’t bother, I’ve killed the others.” The man smirked and then straightened up as he looked down at her. His smirked widened into a grin and Nancy whimpered as the man’s appearance changed. His light hair and eyes darkened to black and his skin became very fair. She shivered as he began to radiate cold energy and she knew at once what this man planned to do.

“You won’t accomplish anything by raping me! I wouldn’t let myself get pregnant by the likes of you!” She struggled again, losing the feeling in her hands as the now demon guard approached her once more. He laughed and waved the syringe in his hand in a very taunting manner.

“You won’t have much of a choice. Daddy wouldn’t be very pleased if his precious little girl suddenly sprouted a demon child will he? So what will happen then? Maybe he’ll kill you to keep it from getting out?”

While the very idea struck her as absurd she froze and he found his chance to descend upon her. She kicked at him and he blocked with one hand while stepping between her legs and kneeling down.

Her body twisted and she tried to wriggle away from him. He grabbed her waist and dug his claws into her side to hold her still before sticking the needle into her abdomen and injecting her with its contents.

She screamed and he pulled the needle back as she tried to thrash under him. His claws dug deeper into her side and she cringed, feeling her side burn with such an intensify that she howled in pain.

“Hayao!” she screamed with one last desperate attempt at help before she felt a vine wrap around her throat and squeeze her silent.

“Enough!” the demon hissed at her. “No one’s there!” Her skirt posed no difficulty to him as the hem widened when unpleated, her panties on the other hand were removed with a single rip and discarded without thought.

Her eyes shut tight to spare herself his image and she tried vainly to call for help. She could feel the demon’s claws withdraw and she clenched her jaw shut tightly trying to prepare herself for what he was going to do.

But it never happened, she heard the man gasp and felt him brush against her legs as he scrambled backwards. She rolled to her side, closing her legs as she opened her eyes to see what the man was doing.

The vines around her wrists loosened as well as the one around her neck and she watched as an angel moved around her in a protective manner. He didn’t reach for the sword at his side, or the dagger sheathed behind his back when the demon came forwards. He waited as the demon swiped at him with his claws then, very calmly, punched the demon in the stomach.

Nancy stared as the demon went limp and fell to the ground. Her guard turned back to her and she pushed herself up, pulling the vine from around her neck and wrists before throwing her arms around him.

“Hayao!” she nearly sobbed his name and squeezed his tightly. He placed his hands on her back and pulled her close against him. “Hayao he.. He was going to-“

She turned her face towards his shirt and swallowed hard as he rubbed her back in soothing circles. “It’s alright now, he’ll be dealt with. This won’t happen again, I swear to you.”

Nancy nodded slightly and leaned back from him her hands coming down to rest on his sheathed dagger. She pulled it free and stepped back from him, tears starting to fall from her blurred eyes.

“No, it won’t,” she said and plunged the dagger deep into her abdomen.

~*~FA

Nancy jerked, stood, and knocked her chair over backwards as she forced him out of her memories.

“It doesn’t leave this room!” she shouted at him. “No one knows but Hayao and I!”

But he didn’t look as though he was going to say anything at all. Shin had become rather still and was looking down at the table before him.

She realized that she was breathing heavily and tried to gather herself before retrieving her chair and sinking back down into it.

“I’m sorry,” Shin said when he finally looked back up at her. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Nancy could feel the warmth raising to her face and placed a hand over her eyes for fear of crying in front of him. Because of what had happened she couldn’t bear children. She had no reason to fear being impregnated against her will and she had thought that it would be best.

They sat in silence for a long time, until Nancy was able to let her hand fall and she straightened up in her seat. Shin’s eyes were well away from her, and he looked as though there were a great many things he wanted to say to her but was afraid to, or maybe he felt he had done enough damage already.

But she could guess at what he wanted to say to her.

“I didn’t do it because I was afraid of what would happen to me if I had a child by a demon. I knew that Yasuyoshi wouldn’t hurt me... after all, I’m the only heir that he has. But I was afraid of what could happen to my child... I told you, I understand how hard it is for half-bloods, I’d seen it everyday on the streets, in Yasuyoshi’s house, in Junji’s... I didn’t want that to happen to my child. Now it never can, because I’ll never have any children.”

“Yasuyoshi doesn’t know?” asked Shin, his eyes raising.

“No. Hayao saved my life. And I made him promise never to tell. When he made his report he never spoke of what I did. I have no visible scar, and I never told anyone. So we were the only ones who knew. It must stay that way.”

“You don’t think, that if people knew, it would discourage them from trying again?”

“It doesn’t matter if they tried or not now. And since then I’ve learned how to defend myself. Though I never expected a friend of Zhou’s to invade my mind in such a way.”

“Then you’ve learned not to trust anyone, haven’t you? I will keep your secret, though I doubt it will stay a secret for long. What will you do when you’re married and Zhou proposes children?”

Nancy bit her tongue and looked away from him. It was true, she couldn’t hide her secret forever.

“Well,” he said. “I’m feeling a bit peckish. Let’s get something decent to eat.” Shin said and pushed his chair back from the table getting up without waiting for her to agree.