Chapter 10
The first time Rachel woke up in the slave house it was still dark out. She hadn't opened her eyes, but heard noise loud enough to disturb her sleep, even if she felt more tired and exhausted than she had in a while.
Slowly opening her eyes she saw a small group get up silently, getting dressed and heading out. Rachel saw one of them putting on a Stetson hat, recognizing the smell of Applejack. Kitchen staff she thought to herself. Getting up earlier than all the others to get breakfast ready. She stretched and closed her eyes again, deciding to not bother thinking yet. It was too early for her.
A few extra hours of sleep later, Rachel awoke once more to the sound of people getting up. Feigning sleep she ignored all sounds of girls yawning and stretching, getting ready for the day.
She ignored the sound of footsteps, or the smell of iron and sweat that was the general scent that was Pascal. She ignored the sound of Pascal tapping her staff on her bed removing the bar hindering her exit and ignored her as she felt Pascal gently tap her cheek.
"Rachel… wake up Rachel, time to start a new day."
Rachel ignored her, continued feigning sleep. A new voice spoke up with a small giggle.
"Aww look at her, all tuckered out like that, with all that hair and that perfect skin I'd take her for a cute little doll."
"Yeah well, she's not an angel in any sort of way" Pascal said back, grunting, leaning back as Rachel refused to move, even as Pascal shook her body gently.
"Damn I hoped I didn't have to use this, but I guess I don't have a choice."
A small clinking sound revealed that Pascal was twirling her staff. For a split second Rachel felt magical energy fill up in the room, and then Pascal released her spell.
"O, Lady of Azure, blaze a trail to the unknown, SAPPHIRING...SQUAD."
The next moment Rachel was very much awake, spluttering and coughing freezing cold and dripping of water. She took a few deep breaths before looking up at Pascal who grinned at her.
"All awake now?"
Rachel lifted her arms to her hair, dragging off the excess water.
"You can summon a water torrent?"
"No, I can summon Undine, the goddess of water and she summons a water torrent… now up you go, you need a shower… well another one, and then you need to get on your clothes and brush your teeth, no dilly dallying, we have a lot to do today."
And with that Pascal turned and walked away, leaving Rachel in her wet soggy bed, growling and lifting her hands in a strangling motion. The woman in the bed next to her giggled gently, reaching out to her own desk getting her own clothes.
"Your own fault for not getting up when she asked you to. I'm Rin Tohsaka; I'm your bedside buddy."
"Rachel Alucard."
"Yeah I gathered… now let's go and get you all clean shall we?"
Rachel sighed, shaking slightly as she dripped water all over the floor she was standing on, grabbing her towel and soap as well as a fresh set of clothes including her hair bows, following Rin out into the hall, ignoring the other girls who had seen and heard the brutal awakening Rachel had had that day.
Rin led Rachel down the hall to the showers where Rachel had met Anko the earlier day. Walking in, Rin pointed to the several boxes.
"Just lay your stuff in one of those shelves and find an empty shower. Don't take too long or Pascal will come at you again."
As she said this Rin dumped her own things in an empty locker, taking off her own nightclothes, throwing them in a nearby basket.
"That's for dirty laundry; you should probably throw your wet clothes in there too."
Rachel grunted, still not comfortable by all this open nonchalant nudity but followed Rin's example, placing her clothes and other things in a shelf at eye height, placing her wet clothes in the basket, before taking her soap and shampoo walking into the shower.
The area was already steamy and wet, filled with people washing themselves, getting ready for a new day… or at least most of them. In between all the smells of soap and water Rachel smelled sweat and grime. She didn't voice her confusion, simply stepped into one of the showers that were available, turning on the spout, getting ready for the day ahead.
…
15 minutes later Rachel stood with the rest of the workers inside their dorm, washed, in clean clothes, hair and teeth brushed, starting to wake up, even if she still felt sore from the day before.
"All right guys, we start like we always do, the daily lottery."
Rachel raised an eyebrow at Pascal who held out a cup with a bunch of chopsticks. Pascal smiled at her.
"Just draw one Rachel and see if there is a red end on it."
Rachel did, seeing that her chopstick indeed was red.
"What do I win?" she asked, just as she realized that all around her the others were giggling or shaking their head in wonder.
Pascal sighed. "Who got the other one?"
A girl with blonde long hair and golden derped eyes held up her hand.
"I'll take your shift Derpy; you just do what you normally do."
"OK, but I can take the shift, I don't mind."
"I know you don't, but I need to follow and make sure that Rachel doesn't do anything we will all regret later."
Rachel blinked, looking at the red chopstick in her hand, thinking to herself that this was probably one of those lotteries you didn't want to win.
All right gals we have tons of stuff to do, go to the kitchen, get some breakfast in your bellies and get back to work, you all have your assignments. Everyone nodded and left, Pascal going up to Rachel.
"OK Rachel, follow me and we will start with our first duty of the day before going back to server training."
Rachel groaned but followed the white and red haired girl up to the main house.
'I've been up 15 bloody minutes and I'm already regretting it' she thought, following Pascal down to the kitchen.
Applejack looked up as they walked inside, wiping her hands as she was sweating while frying tons of eggs.
"Morning AJ" Pascal said, taking a plate filling it with eggs, toast and bacon.
"Morning Pascal, Rachel. Had a good sleep?"
"Until I woke up I did."
AJ smiled, turning to a huge fridge, opening it and handing Rachel a blood pack.
"Breakfast for you Rachel, Mistress orders I am not to let you walk out of this kitchen before you drink that up."
Rachel grunted. "Meddling blonde."
5 hands simultaneously smacked Rachel over the head.
Rachel scowl was not as hard as the one she got from all the girls scowling back. "Fine. Meddling Mistress then."
Rachel gave the other people around her a small happy now scowl before downing the blood pack in a single gulp, shaking her face as the aftertaste hit her.
"Done. Now Pascal, for the love of Lucifer, what the hell is this lottery thing and what are we doing?"
The girls working on making toast, eggs and other foods for the other slaves turned in surprise, AJ gaping.
As she realized what she was doing she shook her head and placed a plate in front of her on a tray, placing a piece of toast with a sunny side up fried egg, a red shining apple and a piece of bacon on it, as well as placing a cup and a large canister on the tray.
"Here you go Pascal, have fun."
Pascal deftly lifted the tray, placing it on her hand, turning to Rachel winking.
"In a few days you'll be doing this just as easily."
"I highly doubt it" Rachel said with a grunt. "Now, again, where the hell are we going?"
"Waking up our beloved owner… if she feels like making it easy for us we'll manage it in twenty minutes."
Rachel stopped momentarily. "What? Yeah mistress likes her sleep… and her bed. There are few things that get's her out of it."
Pascal turned a corner, Rachel realizing that she had to follow, walking after her so called general until finally… they stood in front of Kitty's bedroom door.
Pascal turned to Rachel. "Do not do anything stupid… I cannot stress that hard enough. You may still be all mad and angry and want to say or do something, but when Mistress is sleepy and groggy you do NOT want to make her mad, understand me?"
"Yes" Rachel said nodding, not liking what she heard, but knowing that Pascal in her own little way only was trying to look out for her.
Pascal smiled and opened the door with her free hand, walking inside, Rachel following uncertainly about what was happening next. The room was dark, huge curtains hanging in front of the single window in the room, blocking out most of the light.
Pascal gently placed the tray on a nearby table, looking over to the huge queen size bed where a lump showed both of them where Kitty was sleeping. Walking around Pascal opened a new door into what was a private bathroom, picking up clothes that lay spread around everywhere into a nearby bin, before walking back to the table, winking gently to Rachel who stood watching it all with her arms crossed.
Opening the canister Pascal placed it over the mug and made a huge deal of pouring the hot liquid into it, making the beam last as long as she could, just as Rachel's nose caught the familiar sweet scent of hot Cocoa.
A long sharp intake of breath and a grunt from the bed signalized that the scent had also carried itself over to where Pascal wanted it to go, the woman taking the mug up to the bed, blowing the hot steam towards the pillows.
It didn't take long before the girl hidden under all the blankets stretched and groaned into the pillow.
"Good morning Mistress."
"F u sy so. Whu thm izit?"
"It's getting close to 9 Mistress" Pascal said with a happy tone, although her face fell at the long grunt and movement as Kitty turned around to sleep on her other side, turning away from Pascal.
Pascal walked back to the table to place down the mug. "Come now Mistress, you have a busy day. Remember that Mr. Dalca will be back today for… slave trading."
A long humorless chuckle came from the bed, Pascal walking up to her Mistress crouching down next to the bed, lifting the covers gently from her Mistress' face.
"And Master Alexander is coming to play some cards with you later on."
Kitty mumbled gently, speaking in Pascal's general direction without opening her eyes.
"Alex is being mean; his decks are stupid and keep winning in round 5, personally I think it's compensation for his gladiators never winning against mine."
And with that said Kitty turned again, grabbing a pillow and putting it over her head moaning and yawning.
Rachel walked up to her, shaking her head at the sight. And this was a woman she was supposed to take orders from? Ridiculous.
She looked at Pascal. "So does this thing hibernate in winter?"
A small chuckle under the pillow made Rachel look down.
"I probably would if I could… good morning Rachel, how was your night?"
"Better than my morning."
Rachel turned to Pascal. "I have an idea to get her out of bed, I propose we fill a bucket of water and pour it over her head."
"Bad idea" Kitty said finally opening one bleary eye to scowl at Rachel. "Unless you want to end up naked over my lap getting your ass pounded before I deliver you to the concubines for the next month."
Rachel scowled back at the blonde before looking away, Kitty chuckling, closing her one opened eye before dragging her covers up over her face once again.
"Your breakfast is getting cold Mistress" Pascal said, climbing into the bed, poking the lump under the covers. "AJ put her heart and soul into making it, so why not get up and eat it while it's still edible… would be a shame to waste it."
A small growl followed by a sigh made Pascal grin and lift her arms in triumph.
"Fine, I'll get up."
Rachel stepped away from the bed as Kitty got out, wearing a pair of underpants and a loose singlet. She grunted as she found her footing, dragging a hand through her short blonde hair.
Stretching one last time Kitty got over to the table sitting down and taking a huge gulp of the cocoa.
"Oh that's good" she mumbled, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Rachel finally looked around the room as her eyes adjusted to the dark, seeing a row of statues made in stone, all of them female.
They were all dressed in clothes from a long gone era.
"Are they what I think they are?" Rachel asked, recognizing ornaments and pet animals around the figurines feet.
"Goddesses."
Rachel looked to Kitty who took another gulp of cocoa.
"Old ones." Kitty smiled.
"Do you know why the missionaries in India had such a hard time turning Hindu's into Christians?"
"I honestly didn't know they had tried" Rachel said.
Kitty grinned. "When the missionaries came to India and went door to door and told them about their lord and savior, the Hindu's took him in… and put him on a shelf to worship amongst the other gods, because they worship many gods, not just one… I am kinda in the same boat… kinda. I believe that all the religions probably is real. Who says that only the Christians got it right, or the Muslims or Jews or Buddhists? What if your faith ends up being the deciding factor in where you end up when you die…? So why can't I worship the old gods when my ancestors did?"
Rachel looked up on the figures. "I am guessing Vikings?"
Kitty nodded. "I am Norwegian… the Norse gods were once hailed across my homeland."
Kitty pointed to the closest statue, of a woman with a staff made of wood.
"That's Eir, one of the lesser goddesses, handmaid of Frigg, Odin's wife. She's the goddess of healing. Next to Eir is Freya."
Rachel looked at the statue, of a beautiful woman with big breasts, a huge cat sitting at her side.
"She's the goddess of beauty, love and attraction."
Next to Freya, a woman with long hair, holding an apple in an outstretched hand was showed.
"Idun, goddess of youth. Next to her is Lofn, one of my personal favorites among the lesser known goddesses, she's the goddess of forbidden love."
Rachel huffed as Kitty pointed to the next one in line.
"Next is Nanna, she is the goddess of joy and peace as well as the goddess of the moon."
Rachel looked at the statue, seeing a few crescent moons around on the goddesses dress.
"And finally…" Kitty pointed to the last statue, a woman looking more subdued than the rest.
"Vor, goddess of wisdom... she's basically the female version of Odin, only prettier with less power."
Kitty yawned as she finished talking, biting into her apple. "But it's too early to be talking religion. While I finish breakfast, why don't you two get the tub ready?"
"Yes Mistress," Pascal said, grabbing Rachel as she opened her mouth to protest once more, dragging her into the bathroom.
"Why in the world would she need two people to pour her a… omg that's a huge bath tub."
Pascal nodded. "In all honesty everyone keeps wondering if it's more like a very small pool."
Rachel looked around the bathroom, impressed with the size and décor. "It looks like an old roman bath" she muttered, Pascal walking over to the tub.
It was as Pascal said, it looked more like a pool, with just enough wiggle space for maybe two people, with 3 steps down into a porcelain tub. Turning on the water, Pascal made sure that the water was a good temperature before she turned to a closet with a bunch of soaps.
"Yeah Mistress likes to surround herself with things to show that she is rich… I think it's mostly for herself."
Rachel looked around. The bath was formed like an old roman bath, the tub in the middle of the room, tiles all around and half columns made of marble at the ends.
Rachel shook her head, thinking once again that this place and the people living here were all insane and the quicker she found a way home the better. She turned to Pascal, turning away quickly.
"WOW, why in the name of Lucifer are you naked?"
A giggle made her look up to see Kitty, walking into the bathroom. "She's nude because she doesn't want her clothes to get wet… if I were you I'd follow her example."
Kitty lifted her singlet off her body, dropping her underwear, sauntering down into the water sitting down ignoring Rachel whose skin was now tomato red. Rachel looked at Pascal, trying her best not to look anywhere except her face.
"What the hell Pascal?"
Pascal didn't speak, simply handed Rachel a bar of soap and a sponge, before stepping into the pool, grabbing a bottle of shampoo and walking into the tub herself, finding a good spot behind Kitty's shoulder and started lathering up her blonde hair.
Kitty smiled in Rachel's general direction, lifting a foot out of the water, wiggling it in her general direction.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"I give you one minute to get out of those clothes before I start pulling on your collar" Kitty answered,
Rachel silently cursing every fiber of Kitty's being as she stripped and jumped into the tub, getting used to the warm waters. Kitty smiled at her and placed her foot in her lap.
"Start scrubbing."
Rachel locked her eyes with Kitty, telling herself to relax and take back the fangs that she felt elongating before she counted slowly to ten.
"Yes mistress" she growled, grabbing the soap and starting yet another awful day as a slave trying to ignore letting her eyes wander to much.