Fan Fiction ❯ Pure Essence ❯ Day one, Part 1: Greetings ( Chapter 3 )

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

“You’re still in bed? Get up already, you’re not going to sleep this entire week!” Hayao’s loud yell woke Nancy instantly from the sleep she had fought to achieve most of the night. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over her head in protest, deciding that Hayao would be ignored and she would have a few more hours of much needed sleep. However, Hayao pulled the blanket back down and tossed it to the other side of the room as he glared down at her. She opened an eye and curled into a ball as she continued her protest.

“Five more minutes mother, I was up all night.” She snuggled against her pillow and sighed as she tried to go back to sleep. Hayao simply pulled her out of bed and pushed her towards the closet, ignoring her loud groan and a quiet “hate you” as he did so.

“Get dressed, breakfast is in five minutes. It would be nice if you would at least try to be a little polite for once at a meal,” Hayao said.

“Who put you in such a bad mood?” Nancy yawned, scratching her head.

“I’ll throw Keitaro out the window,” he said. The black fox crawled under the bed to hide.

“Now who isn’t being nice? Hey do you mind?” Nancy asked as she started to disrobe. Hayao rolled his eyes.

“What? I already saw you naked.” He blinked as Nancy turned on him, her face flushed red with the embarrassing memory of the previous night.

“Morning Hayao, is Nancy awake?” Zhou asked as he spotted Hayao in the hall outside Nancy’s door. Hayao frowned rubbing his sore cheek.

“I woke her but she probably went back to bed,” he grumbled. Zhou raised an eyebrow taking notice to the hand print that Hayao was rubbing.

“What happened to you?” he asked. Hayao fought the urge to smirk as he shrugged.

“Nothing. You don’t mind checking to see if she’s up yet do you? I need to get some ice,” Hayao turned away as a grin crossed his face.

“Hayao!” Zhou called, trying to stop him. Hayao just waved as he walked down the hall trying not to laugh. Zhou turned to look at the door and knocked on it. “Nancy?” There was no answer.

Nancy rolled her eyes as she pulled off the silk night dress. She looked around then threw it onto the bed. Keitaro, who had come out of hiding, lent down to sniff the dress then sat back and began to scratch behind his ear. Nancy smiled at him then turned to the dress she had decided to wear.

“One day I’m going to burn every last dress in the Angelic Planes,” she looked at it for a moment then shook her head. “No, it’s too warm out,” she said, deciding against it, and snatched a long white skirt out of the closet and pulled it on then found a matching top. It wrapped around her chest bandeau style. She half glared at the mirror and picked up a gold arm cuff she placed on her left arm.

“What do you think Keitaro?” The black fox looked up at her but didn’t move. “You’re right I hate this outfit too.” She walked over and petted his head breifly before turning towards the door. If Hayao was still there she would have to apologize for slapping him and shoving him out of the room. Not that she didn’t feel that she was completely justified in slapping him in the first place. Nancy reached out but the door opened on it’s own. She frowned slightly and folded her arms over her chest.

“Don’t you have the common knowledge to not come into a girl’s room unless said girl says it’s ok?” she asked. Nancy tried to glare at him but found the surprised and embarrassed look on his face to be too... too.. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

“I’m sorry. Hayao asked me to check in on you,” he explained. Nancy looked away to glance down the hall. She made a quick plan to hit Hayao over the head with something hard and blunt later on.

“Well you should be more careful. Just think of what would have happened had you come in while I was changing.” Zhou’s eyes fell from her face down the curves of her body. “...I might not have even spoken to you for the rest of the week. Well, was there something you wanted?” she asked, looking back to him as Zhou looked back to her face.

“I was going to escort you to breakfast,” he said rather quickly. Nancy smiled and nodded.

“Alright. Zhou I’m sorry about getting upset with you last night. Hayao explained things to me.” Zhou felt his face grow warm as she placed her hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t have become so upset with you for telling me the truth.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure I would have been just as upset as you were.” He turned and started down the hallway, leading her to the dining room.
“Still, I didn’t mean to imprint such a terrible impression of myself. Please allow me to make up for it today,” Nancy said. Zhou looked down at her from the corner of his eye and she smiled up at him.

“Of course, we can just pretend it never happened.”

“Zhou, how long have you known Yasuyoshi?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Since our creation. Yasuyoshi, Junji, Yin, and myself were all created at the exact same moment, although Yasuyoshi likes to think that he was first,” Zhou said. Nancy raised an eyebrow.

“You’re so old,” she said, unable to stop herself. Zhou opened a door and let her go inside.

“Well Hayao is only two hundred years younger than I am,” he pointed out. Nancy nodded slightly but her curiosity had peeked.

“Really? I never thought he was that old. He’s been around since I was born I know that much, and Yasuyoshi appointed him my guard when I was seven. Though Yasuyoshi had him as a babysitter for me even when I was younger.” Nancy blushed slightly as she thought about it. Zhou noted the soft smile on her face.

“You like him?” he asked.

“Of course. He was one of my first real friends, besides Keitaro. He doesn’t hold back anything, even Faith and Harmony won’t tell me the entire truth. I can trust him with all of my secrets. If I had secrets anyway... Wait did you mean? Oh no! Not like that!” she said, waving her hands. “No offense to him or anything but I never thought of him like that. Actually I never really thought of anyone like that. Guess I really am a dumb kid huh?” She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. Zhou shook his head.

“You’re not a dumb kid. You’re just young. And perhaps a little naive,” he said.

“Only a little?”

“Oh how cute!” Sarah exclaimed as she hugged Fluffy.

“I think I’m going to be sick, Fluffy groaned.

“Fluffy, Sarah, this is Nancy. She’ll she staying with us for a short while so please be kind to her,” Zhou said. Fluffy pushed Sarah off her and held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you Sarah, I’m Nancy,” Fluffy said happily. Nancy frowned but took her hand. Was the girl teasing her or... Nancy smiled and laughed softly.
“I think you’ve got it wrong, you see I’m Fluffy your Sarah and she’s Nancy,” she said with a grin. Sarah blinked then laughed and nodded.

“Oh she’s good,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. Zhou shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning his head to one side.

“Peanut butter and jelly for breakfast!” Fluffy cried and raced back to the table where a large platter of sandwiches was placed.

“I suppose Fluffy made breakfast,” Zhou said, almost grimacing at the plate. Sarah nodded as they all sat down at the table and Fluffy began to distribute the sandwiches.

“Lemonade?” Fluffy offered as she poured lemonade into everyone’s glass. Nancy spotted Zhou putting sugar in his and took a small sip of hers. She coughed.

“It’s very good Fluffy. Did you make it yourself?” she asked as she fought to keep her lips from puckering. Fluffy nodded proudly. Nancy waited for her to look away and followed Zhou’s action and put sugar in the lemonade.

“Fluffy doesn’t think lemonade needs sugar. Just plenty of lemons,” Zhou whispered. Sarah giggled.

“Can’t take the Lemonade Zhou?” Fluffy asked as she looked to Zhou, who smiled in return.

“Once again I must apologize Fluffy. I’ve fallen accustom to having sugar in my lemonade,” he said, bowing his head apologetically.

“It’s perfectly fine Zhou. One day you’ll be free of the sugar obsession,” she said, waving her hand. Zhou nodded.

“Until then I’ll just have to keep apologizing.” He took another drink and Nancy smiled.

“Zhou you’re such a gentleman. When are you going to throw away this nice guy attitude and be tough?” Sarah asked while taking the crust off her sandwich.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a gentleman Sarah, and Zhou’s the head of the army, he is tough. He just can’t take my lemonade,” Fluffy commented. Nancy smiled and finished her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“Fluffy no one can take your lemonade. Except for you,” Sarah pointed out. Fluffy nodded.

“And I kick ass.” She picked up her glass and drank the rest of her lemonade with a single gulp.

“Yes, you most certainly do like to “kick ass”. Though, it would be nice if you stopped attacking me in the hall,” Zhou laughed.

“I’ll do as I please, and no one will stop me. I’m unstoppable!” Fluffy cried, waving the uneaten portion of her sandwich in the air. Sarah and Zhou smiled at each other. Zhou grabbed the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Fluffy’s hand and Sarah stood. Zhou threw it to her and Fluffy scrambled out of her chair and around the table to catch Sarah before she could move out of the way.

“What are you doing?” The two began to circle the table while Nancy tried to decide if she should or shouldn’t get involved.

“You’re unstoppable aren’t you? So take your sandwich back.” Sarah waved it teasingly while Zhou chuckled.

“The sandwich did nothing to you! Put it down,” she said.

“Oh darn...” Sarah pouted as the sandwich fell apart in her hands.

“NO!” Fluffy screamed.

“Well, there are still more on the plate.” Sarah shrugged, she started to go back to her chair but Fluffy tackled her.

“Damn you!”

“Time to go.” Zhou grabbed Nancy’s arm and pulled her out of her seat and out of the room.

“But what about...” Nancy gasped as a loud bang came from the dinning room, followed by a round of excited yells from Sarah.

“Don’t worry, they’re alright.” Zhou released her hand as they left the hall way. He was walking quickly, making Nancy

“But I just heard-” another loud crash. Nancy whipped around and started back but Zhou grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

“I wouldn’t interrupt them. Not while they’re...” Zhou let his hand fall from her shoulder as she looked back to him. “You know... Well, to put it bluntly they’re laying.” Nancy’s face turned red.

“But they’re girls,” she said, her eyes wide with surprise. Zhou chuckled and patted her head.

“You really are naive,” he teased. Nancy slapped his hand away.

“Don’t pat my head Zhou. I’ll be nice and warn you this time but if you do it again you’ll pay,” she growled. Zhou stared at her. Her face had gone from red and embarrassed to pissed off and deadly in nothing flat, all because he had patted her head.

“I’m sorry.” He looked away as Nancy shrugged and clasped her hands behind her back.

“I just don’t like people patting my head like I’m some sort of animal, it’s annoying,” she mumbled. Zhou noted the quiver in her voice and quickly looked back. Though her eyes were lowered he could still tell that they were beginning to water.

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked, braking her train of thought. Nancy looked up at him and frowned.

“It’s your time Zhou. You use it the way you want,” she sighed. Zhou thought hard for a moment trying to think of something fun for the both of them then nodded slightly and turned and walked off in one direction.

“I’ll introduce you to my guards,” he announced.

Nancy shook her head but followed him while wondering what he was thinking. Zhou led her out into his garden around the back of his mansion and Nancy looked around at the flowers and trees while keeping one eye on him so she could follow where he was walking, although the stone path he was following could have led her to him had she fallen behind.

She smiled slightly, though he was taking her to meet his guards she enjoyed being out in the sunlight. Taking a deep breath, she grinned and let the warm light sink into her as she looked around.

“This place is really quite beautiful Zhou,” Zhou looked over his shoulder to Nancy who had paused to look at a fish pond where the Koi swam to the surface in hopes of being fed. She held onto the stone forming the perimeter of the pond and smiled down at the fish. Nancy leaned her head to one side as the sun reflected off something at the bottom of the pond. She leaned forwards trying to make out what it was and someone pushed her from behind.

“Namir!” Zhou yelled at the female lion. For a moment it stood by the koi pond before sitting back on her haunches. Sitting like that her head was at level with Zhou’s own, her great white Angelic wings were folded at her sides and she seemed to hardly care about what she had just done. Zhou frowned at the huge lion but turned his attention to Nancy who held onto the side of the pond. It hadn’t looked so deep since she could see the bottom but now being in the pond she could tell it was. “Nancy are you alright?”

“Yes,” she grumbled. Zhou held out his hand to help her out of the pond, she took it and with a smirk pulled him in with her. Zhou broke the surface of the water and was met with a splash in the face.

“What was that for?” he asked, sputtering. Nancy laughed at the look of confusion on his face.

“That was for not warning me about the lion sneaking around your garden. Of course I only pulled you in so you wouldn’t feel left out. After all you might have wanted to go for a swim too,” she said. Zhou’s grey eyes seemed to brighten for a moment as he looked at the still laughing girl. Her face suddenly turned bright red and she stopped laughing.

“Zhou would you please close your eyes?” she asked. He frowned, thinking that it may be another trick but his eyes closed out of curiosity. He heard her pull herself from the water and when he looked he caught sight of Nancy running down the stone path back towards the mansion.

He pulled himself out of the pond, he was soaked and his clothes were sticking to him, not to mention his white shirt had become somewhat transparent. Zhou looked down the stone path and remembered that Nancy’s clothes had been white, and most likely had met the same fate as his shirt.

“Excuse me-” said a voice from behind her. Nancy froze and looked over her shoulder. She must have run right past him without even noticing. He stood about as tall as Zhou, with nice green eyes and short cut reddish hair. He was dressed in the typical soldier uniform and he held a scroll under his arm. He was just leaning against the wall as if waiting for something. Nancy looked around to make sure no one else was there that she had not noticed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” She tried to keep her face from turning even redder although she doubted it could get redder by then. He raised an eyebrow.

“Obviously, well you wouldn’t know if Zhou was home or not would you? Some crazy blue haired girl let me in then ran off screaming about her lemonade. Then I got turned around in these halls, decided to stop for a little while and you ran past,” he explained. Nancy had to smile at the little story, picturing Fluffy running down the hall screaming about her lemonade was quite humorous.

“Well I think Zhou’s still in the garden around the back of the house. At least that’s where he was when I left him. Well if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go to my room now-”

“Why the hurry?” Nancy frowned as the man pushed off from the wall and walked towards her. “Don’t you think it would be rude to run off without at least introducing yourself?” His lips curled into a sly smile as he reached her. Nancy stared up at him not sure what to do.

“I guess so, my names Nancy. There I introduced myself-” she gasped as he chuckled.

“But what’s in a name? I still don’t feel as if you’ve really introduced yourself.” He grabbed her arm as she stepped back from him. Nancy slowly shook her head.

“I don’t think I want you to know anymore than my name,” she whimpered. He looked slightly amused by her words.

“Why not? Zhou’s in the garden, you said it yourself. I don’t think he’ll mind if we have some fun.” He pulled her close to him. Nancy froze as he leaned forwards.

“If you dare kiss my fiancé it will be the last thing you do.” Zhou’s voice sounded cold and it seemed to freeze the man in place. Nancy moved back from the man when he released her arm and he turned to face Zhou.

“She’s your fiancée? Forgive me I had no idea... I was just delivering this from Yasuyoshi.” He held out the scroll and Zhou took it, his eyes full of anger.

“Get out,” he growled. The man wasted no time in leaving, hurriedly taking off down the hall nearly shoving Nancy out of the way. Zhou glared after him then turned to Nancy who was holding one arm while staring down at the floor. His face softened and he smiled slightly. “I forgot to warn you about messengers. We get them quite often here.” She looked up at him her face no longer red and embarrassed but pale and timid.

Zhou’s eyes widened with surprise as she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his still wet shirt. “Nancy what’s wrong?” she trembled but said nothing. Zhou sighed and pulled her into his arms then carried her down the hall.

“Zhou?” she said uncertainly. He let her down and picked a few stray hairs from her face.

“We’re just outside of the bath. Go and relax. It’ll help calm your nerves.” He pointed to the door on the other side of the room they had entered. She looked over her shoulder at it and frowned then looked back to him.

“Zhou I-”

“Cannon ball!” Fluffy ran past them laughing madly. Sarah smiled at them and stopped to speak.

“Fluffy and I will make sure that no one else bothers her,” she said, then, laughing, skipped off after Fluffy. Zhou and Nancy both seemed a little confused as neither had seen either one around when the messenger had caused trouble.

“Well, I’ll be in my office.” He shook his head and walked away. Nancy sighed and walked after Sarah and Fluffy hoping that things would calm down. Sarah had already taken off her clothes and was heading towards the bath in the middle of the room.

“Cannon ball!” Sarah exclaimed and, jumped into the large, sunken in tub.

“We need to come to Zhou’s place more often,” Fluffy said and lowered herself into the tub as Sarah resurfaced. Nancy sighed and began to take her own clothes of as Sarah and Fluffy splashed water at one another.

“Does Zhou live here by himself?” Nancy asked after laying her wet clothes on one of the benches in the room.

“Yes. Sarah and I are technically his slaves but we ever only come around when he needs us. Though he always has visitors when he’s here. Like Heresy, Hayao, Faith, Harmony, Yasuyoshi, and Junji,” Fluffy said while counting them all off on her fingers. Sarah nodded while wiping water off her face.

“Of course whenever there’s a visitor it’s business only. Zhou’s a very busy person. If he’s not working then he’s here in the hot spring,” Sarah said, watching as Nancy joined them in the bath. Fluffy wadded over to one side of the bath then came back holding a dish that was full of a thick green liquid. She sat it down by Nancy and started splashing Sarah again. Nancy smiled slightly at her and dipped her fingers into the dish, then brought them up to smell them. It was sweet pea scented shampoo. She listened to Sarah and Fluffy giggle and splash each other as she washed her hair.

It wasn’t long before she had lost track of time, and nearly forgotten why she was in the bath in the first time. After washing she had joined Fluffy in an attack on Sarah, who was currently being held under the water by her blue haired counterpart. Sarah managed to struggle free and push Fluffy away, then, just as she came out of the water, gasping for air, Nancy grabbed her arms and pulled them around behind her back so Fluffy could tickle her sides. Nancy laughed along with Sarah, not really sure how she had joined in the roughhousing but glad she was. Fluffy and Sarah were unlike any servants she had ever known, and rather likeable once you got past their crazed tendencies.

Finally they released Sarah. Letting her go when she began to cry from laughing so hard. Nancy watched as Sarah hurriedly moved away from the two of them and grabbed a bar of soap, eyeing them both as though she thought they might attack her again. Nancy sighed and turned away, she needed to get out before Fluffy suggested that they do just that. She pulled herself from the tub and found a pile of towels laying on a bench near where she had laid her clothes.

She quietly dried herself off while Fluffy and Sarah talked about the chores they had to do before the night was over. Cleaning some guest rooms and cooking dinner, and making sure the lions in the garden had their evening meal. Nancy smiled slightly as she remembered the lion she had bumped into. It probably ate a meal bigger than her every night. Nancy shuddered suddenly, thinking about the messenger she had also ran into, and quickly pulled her dried clothes back on. She thought to herself that she would change before going to thank Zhou for everything and apologizing for acting the way she had.

“Nancy, before you came in here, you seem wigged out. Did something happen between you and Zhou?” Fluffy asked with a knowing sort of tone in her voice. Nancy looked at the two girls out of the corner of her eye and adjusted her top. Fluffy had said that she would make sure no one else bothered her, so did she know about the messenger already? How would she? She wasn’t around when it had happened was she? Impossible...

“No, I just ran into a messenger and he sort of... frightened me,” she said. It was the truth, so Fluffy wouldn’t be upset for lying to her if she already knew about it, and if she didn’t she at least had an explanation for why she had been frightened, or “wigged out” as Fluffy had put it. “I’m going to go talk to Zhou now, alright?”

“Sure thing, we’ll see you later!” Sarah called, waving her hand frantically. Fluffy grinned and nodded before she started towards Sarah who made a strange sort of excited squeal sound and ducked her head under the water. Nancy hurriedly left the room, thinking about what Zhou had told her after their meal earlier.