Fan Fiction ❯ Pure Essence ❯ Day 4, Part 3: Cheeseburger ( Chapter 10 )

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

Author’s Note: Wow, haven’t had one of these for a while... I’ve had a lot of ideas rumbling about in my brain lately so it’s been a little hard to figure out what I want to use. In any case I need to get back to writing stuffs... Yep.


Pure Essence

When Shin had decided that they were going out to eat she expected they would go to one of the small diners near Zhou’s mansion. She never dreamed that he would take her to a military transport with intentions of going to the first plane. When he told her his plans to travel she had initially refused, because of her appearance. He was quick to point out that she could put away her wings, and that her hair and eyes were already beginning to lighten.

By the time they arrived she found that she was almost completely back to her normal self. The transport itself was near a large military base on the fifth plane. It was well guarded and only those who had special passes were allowed to use it. The first plane, while there were a few civilians living there, was first and foremost the location of the demon prison. Very few people had access to the first plane due to the security risk, so when Shin showed the guard his pass Nancy’s jaw hung open a little in surprise.

“And you?” asked the guard, as he returned Shin’s pass. He frowned deeply at her and Nancy quickly dug in the pocket of her skirt for her ID card. She held it out for him and, after staring at the card in disbelief, he asked the two of them to stay put while he checked something with his superior.

“You’re not banned are you?” Shin asked, scowling at her.

“Of course not. This happens every time. I mean, just think, if a guard let me through, and something happened on the first plane, who do you think Yasuyoshi would hang? By checking with his superior he basically places the blame on him.” Nancy sighed and rubbed the back of her head, as Shin smirked at her.

“Princess, you’re a danger to the general public.” He chuckled at the flustered look that crossed her face.

“Oh very funny,” she snapped at him, turning her attention to the guard as he came back, accompanied by his superior officer.

“Princess! What a pleasure it is to have you!” the man said holding out his hand. Nancy thought she heard Shin mumble something but ignored him and shook the man’s hand.

“We’re in a bit of a hurry,” Shin said, glaring at both the man and the guard. Nancy stiffened as the man cast an equally nasty glare at Shin, and squeezed her hand just a little too tightly.

“Your servant may stay here, we’d be delighted to have one of our own guards accompany-“

”How dare you!” Nancy snapped, pulling her hand free of his. “You will apologize at once to my friend! And you can be sure that my father will hear about this!”

“Don’t bother,” Shin growled before the man had enough time to utter a syllable. “Nothing he said would mean a damn thing.” Shin half stalked half stomped into the next room, snarling at a guard he passed by. Nancy cast one final glare at the supervisor before turning on the man who was still holding her pass card.

The man stiffened and drew back slightly, waiting for her to reprimand him as well. Nancy relaxed and forced a smile while holding her hand out for her card.

“Thank you,” she said as the man returned her card. She followed after Shin, placing her card back into her skirt pocket. Once in the next room she joined Shin in the center of a bright circular pattern on the floor and looked towards the angel typing coordinates into the control panel nearby.

Light flashed around her and she shut her eyes tightly, turning her face as though to shield it. The light dimmed and she blinked her eyes open to look around. There were soldiers in this room, each of them carrying a weapon and positioned around the room. The only one who was moving was a young looking angel behind the control panel.

“Come on, I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to,” Shin said, taking her arm to lead her towards the exit. Nancy nodded, feeling oddly anxious with all of the grim looking soldiers positioned around them.

She stiffened when they stepped outside, actually taking hold of his shirt as they stepped out onto the darkened hall. Light came from small hovering orbs near the ceiling and every Thirty feet an armed soldier stood against the wall in either direction.

“Shin, where exactly are we going?” Nancy asked, trying to ignore the sense of dread welling up inside her.

“You’ll see. Now keep close,” Shin muttered and released her arm, he turned away to the left and began walking. Nancy swallowed hard and followed after him, walking as close as she could without stepping on his heels.

Her last visit to the first plane had also been her first, and was one of the most unpleasant experiences she could remember. The plane itself was desolate land, barren due to the constant warring that had in the beginning of the great war and bordered the demon realm.

There were less than fifty civilians who lived there, most of which had jobs which required them to stay there permanently and they all lived in one large building, which also had the only transport on the entire plane. Military personnel surrounded the building, as a barrier between the prison and the civilians and had their own lodgings. The prison itself was a massive building with so much security that only the top most officials were allowed entrance, and then only if cleared by the Cherubim.

Shin seemed to know his was about the civilian’s housing quite well, as he never stopped walking through the maze of hallways in order to look where he was actually going. Nancy thought, though she couldn’t be sure, a few of the guards actually nodded slightly as though to greet him as he passed by.

Sooner than she expected he stopped in front of a numbered door, an act which led her to almost walk right into him. Shin gave her a sort of reprimanding frown, and she winced. He pulled a small silver key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushed it open and stood aside to let Nancy step through first.

She tried her best to keep the weary look off her face as she stepped into the small apartment. Shin closed the door after joining her and she heard the door lock. She looked over her shoulder questioningly, but Shin didn’t seem to notice. Instead he placed the key, and his ID card onto a small table next to the front door.

He then pulled off his wrist warmers and tossed them onto the table, before walking off towards the right where there was another room. “Sit down if you want,” he called from the room. Nancy looked around and saw a small, two cushioned couch not far from her. She walked over to it, examining the rest of the room as she made her way.

It was very plain, the hard wood floors were dark, and had small pieces of paper scattered on it. The walls were all a dark blue color and bare, the only furnishings seemed to be the black leather couch she seated herself on, a few wooden side tables, and a long coffee table in front of the couch with a bowl full of colorfully wrapped.... something.

Nancy leaned forwards to look at the odd things in the bowl. Whatever it was had the same paper wrappings that scattered the floor. And it was all different shapes and sizes. Square, and round, rectangular, and cone shaped items that she had never seen before.

“Here, try some real food for once,” he said holding out a small plate for her to take. Nancy silently took the plate, eyeing the strange food that was upon it. Shin plopped down on the sofa next to her and kicked his feet up onto the table, crossing his feet there so he was comfortable.

“What is it?” she asked, lifting the bread that was sitting atop a small round piece of meat.

“It’s a cheeseburger, Princess,” Shin said, holding it with one hand. He took a large bite out of it and smirked at her. Nancy carefully picked up the sandwich, holding it with both hands and sniffed the meat delicately.

“Eugh, it smells awful,” she said before she could stop herself. To her relief her remake didn’t seem to offend Shin. Instead he laughed, and continued eating. She frowned, trying to get past the smell and took a small bite.

She gagged, turned her face away from the sandwich and held her arms out and away from herself to put some distance between her and the disgusting thing Shin had tried to feed her.

“Alright, don’t kill yourself trying.” Shin took the sandwich and put it on his own empty plate. He leaned around to see her face and laughed again as she struggled to swallow the tiny bite. “You wanna spit it out?” he asked, motioning towards the room he had gone into. She guessed it was the kitchen and scrambled to get off the couch and into the room.

It didn’t take her long to locate the trash can and she quickly pushed back the lid and spat out the bit of cheeseburger. She stuck out her tongue and made a disgusted face, wondering how it was he could eat the horrible thing.

“Really, it was that bad?” Shin asked, standing in the doorway. Nancy watched as he finished her sandwich and winced.

“No, it was so wonderful my mouth couldn’t handle it.” She muttered. Shin rolled his eyes and sat both of their plates onto the counter. He leaned back against it and Nancy followed his action, leaning against the fridge, across from him.

“You can’t handle a little grease and cheese, but you managed to stomach kissing that prick Zhou?” he said, never batting a lash as he insulted her fiancé.

“Shin!” she breathed, shocked at what he said. “I though you and Zhou were friends!” Her face flushed red at the blank stare Shin gave her.

“I put up with him as I have to. He did dump my sister after all. You know, maybe I shouldn’t have invited you into my home. Being the little tramp that-“ he was silenced by a swift hand at the side of his face and Nancy hissed at him through her teeth.

“Don’t you ever call me that again! Or else I’ll-“ She blinked as Shin grabbed her wrist and throat, pushing her back until she hit the fridge.

“And don’t you ever hit me again bitch.” He squeezed her throat a little, not enough to stop her breathing but enough to make her wince at him. “This is my home, and as my guest you should be a little more gracious don’t you think?” She didn’t answer, partially afraid to and partially for spite.

Shin held her a little longer, there was no anger in his expression nor had there been any in his voice. If anything he seemed more amused and pleased with himself that he had managed to get a rise out of her and she wondered if that had been his intent all along. The two of them stared one another down and she felt Shin’s thumb twitch at her throat. She tensed as his face came close to hers, and she felt his breath on her lips.

For a moment she caught herself thinking that he might actually-

“Shin,” she said softly, speaking as his hand loosened on her throat. His eyes, lowered away from her face and he released her fully.

“You want something to drink? I have wine I think, or beer.”