Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

Sakura didn’t notice the slaughter occurring across the cavern. She barely registered the magnificent wings pressed against her arms. She only smelt the mix of Ivy and the devil’s blood, saw it smeared across the side of her face, heard the clanking of the chain around her ankle.

She had to get her out of there.

She had called out to Ren but he seemed to not even hear her.

She didn’t have time for this, to wait for the man to get his act together long enough to come help her in freeing the girl.

So, she’d just do it herself.

The demon grabbed her glaive and began pulling from the baldric but a large hand over hers stopped the motion.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Ren warned, pushing her arm down and the weapon back into place. “You’ll take off both of her legs with that thing!” He snatched the thinnest dagger from around the woman’s thigh, waggling it for a moment in front of her nose, and set to work on the lock. “You need to get her out of her. Get her as far away as possible. Don’t look back. Just go. I’ll take care of Zero.”

He hoped.

Sakura looked behind her, actually seeing the boy for the first time, her eyes going wide at the sight of the mangled remains in his grasp, the formidable horns from his skull, and the wings of bone sprouting from his back. “Oh fuck! Where did he get those?!”

The man peered up at her momentarily, not exactly surprised with her reaction but disgruntled, nonetheless. “You really do have a one-track mind, you know that. Have you even noticed Ivy’s?”

Of course she hadn’t.

She turned back to the girl and gasped. “She’s a fucking fae!”

“Great job. You figured it out. Congratulations.” With a final twist of his wrist, the lock released with a click and the angel pulled it free. “Now get the fuck out of here. Go! Now!”

Sakura stayed put, glancing between the devil and the fae, considering the possible implications of the options they had, before meeting the angel’s gaze. “Do you think he’ll eat her?” she asked quietly, trying to not raise any suspicion in their direction despite her earlier outburst. “Like that story that Raz told us. About how devils crave fae blood, and that’s why they’re no longer around. Could Zero do that?”

Ren wanted to insist that that would never happen, to put his full, blind trust in the boy as he had always done.

But that boy wasn’t one that he had ever known.

Nor was the girl.

He was a devil.

And she was a fae.

Predator and prey.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I want to say that if he was going to eat her, then he would have already done so a long time ago. But that’s not exactly Zero right now, and whatever magic was concealing Ivy’s wings is obviously gone, and we have no idea the extent of what else it was suppressing. You two have talked about how she smells different. Maybe the scent of her blood has been mostly masked to him until now.”

“Maybe.” The vixen nodded slowly, chewing her cheek uncomfortably. “And you think me running off with Ivy while you try not to end up like that devil is the better option than waiting it out? Seeing how Zero responds when he’s finally done over there?”

“Not really, but I don’t exactly want to chance serving her up on a silver platter, either.” He looked back at the boy, running through the game plan in his mind. “I think as long as I don’t fuck up too bad, I can get a good knock to his head. It’s always worked in the past. No reason to think it wouldn’t now. At the very least, give you enough time to get out of here… maybe.”

She went quiet, turning her attention along with Ren’s back to Zero and watching as he tore apart and discarded what little was left of the defiled corpse. “I think I’m just gonna stay here. Seems like taking off would definitely be asking for trouble. Look what’s happening to the last person who ran off with Ivy.” Her arms tightened their hold around the girl, pulling her closer. “I know it’s a risk, but I can’t bring myself to believe that there’s actually a chance that he would ever do anything to hurt her. Devil or not, it’s not who he is.”

Ren opened his mouth but choked on his response as the boy stilled and silence fell, the eerie nothingness covering them like a blanket.

“Fuck.” He got to his feet, following after Zero as he abandoned his first victim and turned his attention towards the angel, face expressionless and eyes total darkness. He pulled the bracelet from his wrist, wings erupting, and held it out to the demon. “Looks like there’s no other option now. I really hope you're right.”

She took it, slipping it over her hand. “Me, too.”

“If you’re wrong, run.” Ren warned in a whisper meant for only her before plastering a bright grin on his face and putting one foot in front of the other, closing the distance between him and the boy and shielding the women behind him with the extending of raven feathers. “I like your wings.” His smile growing, voice cheerful and familiar. “They look good on you. Make you even more precious, believe it or not. You should let them out more often.” He stopped a safe distance away.

Watching.

Waiting.

The same as Zero.

“How about we go home, boy?” he continued, looking for any sign of life in those empty eyes boring down on him. “You wanna do that? We could go fish the river. Start on your house like we’ve talked about. And when we’re all finished, you and Ivy can live there and get the fuck out of my house. Does that sound good?”

Nothing.

Maybe he was thinking it over?

Maybe this would be the worst of it?

Maybe?

Ren unsheathed his sword just as twin blades crashed against it, the scream of steel ricocheting around them, and Zero stood before him, a beast running off of pure, volatile instinct. The angel pushed him away and situated his feet enough to stay steady against the next blow.

And the next.

And the next.

Each one coming so fast he barely had time to defend himself.

Perhaps it hadn’t been the best idea to teach an immortal devil how to fight.

But it sure had been fun.

The angel went along with the attacks as they pushed him around the cave, weaving him around the floor’s obstacles in a dizzying dance. There was no way to overpower Zero, but even though the boy was strong and fast, his current state had made him sloppy, overextending his strikes to the point that the blades grazed the stone underfoot and slashed into unsuspecting stalagmites more often than not. The disregard to proper form and care of the weapons was a complete nuisance and insult to the man’s training of the boy and exactly what he needed in order to gain a better standing against the devil. If Ren was patient, taking a little more at a time, gaining control bit by bit, then he may be able to get the upper hand and put Zero on defense. Then, with any luck, the flat of his blade would connect with the back of the boy’s head and they could call it a day.

It was the best plan he had.

Too bad he wouldn’t be able to put it into motion.

What with there being outside variables that he foolishly didn’t take into account.

The two men froze momentarily, their blades and eyes locked before they both looked up.

And, much too late, Ren realized that Zero hadn’t actually been fighting against him.

He had been antagonizing Sakura.

“Shit!” Ren cursed as he used the momentum from Zero pushing away from him to tuck and roll backwards, escaping from the glaive that obliterated the ground below where they had just stood. “Damn it, woman! Mind your own damn business! Let me handle it!”

But Sakura wasn’t listening, her body spinning and twisting as she smashed the weapon erratically against the boy’s katanas, forcing him to protect himself from her rage. “You little shit!” she shrieked, her eyes wild and furious. “Fuck up my father’s sword! Give it back!”

She could hear the rustling of his clothes, telling her how far or close his feet would fall, where his arms were going. The depths of his breath gave away the extent of the force of his counterattacks. The pounding of his heart revealing his next location.

The boy was so damn loud.

He hadn’t learned a thing.

The woman swung the large weapon high, knowing he would block it, and she would then sling her leg out so her boot could connect with the bottom of the hilt of her father’s katana and launch it from his grip.

But she heard his foot slide, the shifting of his hips, lifting of only one elbow.

And she realized that he already knew what she was going to do.

He had just been waiting for her to do it.

He would block the glaive.

But not with her father’s blade.

That one was reserved for her leg.

She had felt this feeling once before. That unobstructed moment of clarity where she was liberated from everything that bound her to this world. When her mind was clear, free. Unfortunately, it only seemed to come around with her worst decisions, and this was most certainly one of them.

It was like deja vu as the same arms wrapped around her waist and black feathers surrounded her, pushing her back as the glaive’s handle slipped from her hand, bouncing against the katana before falling to the ground.

“Do you ever stop?! I told you I’d take care of him, and you take care of her!” Ren snapped, landing away from the devil and raising his sword in front of the demon, feverishly coming up with a new plan to get the woman back to the girl while waiting for the boy’s next attack.

But no other attack came. Zero just stood there across from the pair, his arms lowering to his sides, hands opening and blades falling, as he stared past them. His jaw clenched as he bared his fangs, a low growl rumbling from his throat.

A warning.

“Oh, Zero,” the voice so sweet and forlorn, dripping with compassion.

Sakura and Ren’s heads whipped around together, gawking at the girl behind them. She glided towards them with steps light as air, her butterfly-like wings making her even more like a dream, her bottom lip puckered out as if she were about to cry, her bright, violet eyes focused solely on the boy. The boy whose own eyes were dark and void, a black hole absorbing all the light around.

“Ivy,” the demon spoke quietly, almost afraid to draw more attention to the girl. She didn’t know what to say or if she should even speak at all. Should she tell the girl to help or to run? She so wanted to trust Zero, even in the state he was in. But there was no denying reality. Devils ate the fae, that’s why there were none knowingly left on the land.

Except for Ivy.

And Zero was a devil. One that was completely lost to the madness.

The darkness.

The woman opened her mouth to say… she didn’t know what. But Ivy’s hand came up in their direction.

“I’m so sorry,” she spoke softly, her voice breaking without bothering them a glance. “Sleep.”

And just like that, both Sakura and Ren’s bodies collapsed together, peacefully asleep before they even hit the ground.

Ivy continued towards Zero, her hands reaching out to him, inviting him into their embrace. “Zero.”

He was instantly in front of her, now silent, looking down at the girl as he towered above her with onyx horns and eyes and wings of bones.

“So that’s what yours look like.” She smiled gently up at him, her fingers tracing along the wings so different from her own. “They’re so beautiful, but it must have been painful for you to release them. And your horns have grown so much taller.” She reached for them, feeling their roughness against her skin. “Thank you for coming for me. I was scared I wouldn’t see you again, but I’m so happy you’re here now. I wish it could have been different, and you didn’t have to go through all of this in this way. Though, I suppose we can’t change that now, can we? Are you able to come out of it on your own?”

The boy said nothing, only watched the girl.

Ivy giggled, fingers slipping down to his cheeks and caressing their way to his neck. “It’s okay. I can help. Take whatever you need.”

Without hesitation, his hands took hold of her face as his lips crashed down on hers, desperately claiming them. Her own pushed against his, and Ivy wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer, allowing him more.

A joining of lips.

A dancing of tongues.

A connection of souls.

A taming of the inferno.

He took and she gave.

He gave and she took.

She was able to accept him.

The way he had accepted her.

The sun.

The moon.

The light.

The dark.

The flame of their soul.

Together.

Eternal.

When Zero pulled away, Ivy smiled brightly.

“There you are.” She gazed into his kind, crimson eyes, his horns and wings gone, the boy she knew returned. She pulled him down, kissing him once more, a short and loving reminder. “How are you feeling?”

“I love you, Ivy,” he said, his voice quiet and gentle, eyes and pull of his lips soft, before his hands and body fell away and onto the floor, out before he hit the ground.

The girl sighed and looked around the dark cavern, a pout on her lips as she tried not to panic and cry.

What was she supposed to do now?

This cave was cold and damp and the last place that she wanted to be. But there was no way she could carry any of them out and back to the surface. Sure, she could probably drag Sakura a ways with a few breaks here and there, but she doubted she could make it far with Zero and was positive Ren wouldn’t even so much as budge despite her best efforts.

She looked down at her sleeping companions, knowing her tears would get her nowhere. Instead, she sat down and pulled Zero’s head onto her lap.

She would just have to wait.

She ran her fingers along his handsome face and through his white hair.

She marveled at the length of his lashes, the curve of his nose, the shape of his lips.

He was everything.

He was hers.

She was his.

She loved him so.

She smiled.

Kissed his lips.

And sang to him.