Let's Go

“So, who wants to go first?” Ren smiled with all the excitement of a thousand lifetimes, already knowing the answer to his question. “Zero? Yeah, of course you do. Come here, boy, don’t be shy. Come to Papa.”

The boy watched the man with hesitation, his loving arms open and ready to welcome the devil into them, his black wings extended in full, horrifying glory. Zero didn’t have a problem with going to The Kingdom. He just wasn’t looking forward to the journey there.

But there was no getting out of it. Only prolonging the inevitable.

It was probably best to just get it over with.

“Fine.” Zero bowed his head in defeat, unable to even look at the angel in all his joy, reveling in the boy’s misery. If only he could fly there on his own, it might not be so bad. But one can only make it so far on wings of bone.

“No.” Sakura took Ivy’s and Zero’s bags from them and stepped up to Ren. “I’ll go first. I don’t want him up there alone with all those angels around. You can take me, then Ivy, and bring Zero last.”

“Alright, that works for me.” The angel wrapped his arms around her waist and under the handle of her glaive as hers went around his neck, his bracelet clacking around her wrist. He winked and blew a kiss towards the devil. “I’ll be back for you, so wait for me.” A wave of ebony pounded down and the two were launched into the sky, quickly fading into the blue.

Zero watched them go, the dread growing and making his stomach churn.

How he wanted to die.

But he couldn’t.

What a shame.

Ivy encircled herself around him as he mindlessly did the same, her violet eyes staring up at him with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” the boy attempted to convince himself. “I just don’t like flying.”

“We don’t have to go,” she offered. “We could just stay here and work on the cabin. I don’t think Sakura will need any help, and she’ll have Ren anyways.”

He sighed softly, resigning himself to his fate. “No, I want to go. I’m interested to see where my mother came from. I don’t remember much about her, but I remember her eyes. That man… he had the same eyes.” The same empty, sorrowful gaze when looking at him.

The girl chewed her bottom lip and squeezed him tighter. “Do you think it was her father? It seemed like he was having a difficult time when he was looking at you. He looked so sad.”

“Maybe. Angels hate devils, but he didn’t seem like he hated me. That could explain why.”

“Do you think it’s a good idea for you to go? There are only angels up there.”

Zero shrugged. “Ren doesn’t seem concerned. He can’t wait to get me up there. He’s talked me into doing a lot of things, but he’s always been cautious with me around angels. If he’s not worried, then I’m not.”

“If that’s what you want to do.” Ivy smiled, encouraging.

The devil tore his attention away from the empty sky and looked down at her, so beautiful and sweet, always tempting. “I prefer other things.” He smiled back, crimson expressing those desires.

Her eyes brightened as her hands found their way through his hair, pulling him closer to meet her.

With lips locked together, Zero began reevaluating his decision. There really was no reason for them to go. Sakura could kill the parasite on her own. It was highly unlikely she wanted or would even need any help. The woman was insane, blood thirsty, and fully capable of doing it herself with bare minimum assistance from Ren if need be. Him and Ivy would do nothing but tag along anyways, just be there for the sake of being there. It would probably be for the best if they didn’t go, that way they could keep out of Sakura’s way. The parasite extermination was very important to her. She didn’t need any extra distractions.

And if they stayed, it would just be the two of them. Just quiet. No interruptions. No one in the way. They could continue doing what they were doing now, their bodies close and lips connected. There were other things as well, things that Ivy had explained but never shown him. Maybe if there was no chance of a disruptive certain someone interfering, then Ivy would be willing to show him those things. He had never experienced them and neither had she, but they could learn together.

And Zero very much enjoyed learning new things.

Ivy pulled away, her face flush, voice breathless. “How long do you think it takes to get there and back?”

It didn’t matter.

He had changed his mind.

They weren’t going to go.

They were going to stay.

But before Zero could tell her as much, a dark figure landed behind the girl, competing arms pushing away Zero’s to snake around her waist. He looked up, just in time to take a kiss to the forehead and see the angel’s maniacal grin.

“You’re next, my darling,” Ren cooed, and he was gone, Ivy’s screams disappearing with him.

Zero knew he had no one to blame but himself. Ren always ruined everything, this was no surprise. It was a mistake to stay outside, standing around in the open, just waiting to get picked off one by one. He should have known better. Done better.

The devil closed his eyes and sighed, disgusted with himself.

He should have taken her inside.

Ivy kept her eyes snapped shut as an involuntary scream refused to stop erupting from her mouth. She could hear familiar laughter behind her, and she was slowly able to calm herself, the scream losing power before going silent.

“You’re fine, Little One,” Ren assured cheerfully as the girl caught her breath. “Don’t be scared. Open your eyes.”

Ivy took a deep breath and did so, finding herself engulfed in endless sky and passing white, fluffy clouds as the land below got further and further away.

She looked up at the angel who was smiling brightly down at her. “It’s amazing!” she marveled. She had gotten quite talented at flying, now being able to flutter above the trees and do flips and dives and zip around. But never would she be able to fly this high. “How long until we’re there?”

“Not too long. I would have gotten you sooner, but Sakura took one look at that parasite and about lost her damn mind. It was a bit of a fight to get her to hold off on killing it.”

“How big is it?”

His eyes went wide, exhilarated. “Oh, you’ll see.”

Ivy didn’t know how much higher they could fly. It seemed to never end, but before she could ask, Ren tilted forward and they dove across the sky, the sheer speed forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut and tuck her chin into her chest while clutching onto the man’s arms for dear life.

“There it is,” Ren hollered over the wind before he started to slow.

Ivy opened her eyes once more, a terrified gasp ripping into her lungs. She had never seen any being so large, so dark, so ghastly. The parasite covered miles of wall, spilling far into the forest, closer than not into the city that laid beyond. A deep black glob that seemed to have billions of little fingers at its edges, pulling and stretching it further, absorbing the trees it touched into its void, continuously growing. She saw no body, no head, just a shapeless form that pulsed across the land. “How is Sakura supposed to kill that?!”

Ren chuckled as they glided over the parasite. “I’m sure she’ll figure it out. She always does.” They made it to the end of the blob, and Ren dropped down through the trees onto the forest floor close to Sakura, releasing the girl. “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t try to kill it without me. I’m gonna go get Zero!” Ivy didn’t need to look at the angel to know he was having the time of his life as he took off back to the land to retrieve the devil. She just hoped he wouldn’t be too reckless with the boy.

Maybe her and Zero should have stayed home.

She went to where the woman was crouched down just before the parasite, a long stick in her hand, poking it. “What are you doing?” she asked, confused.

“Poking it,” Sakura stated plainly, shoving the stick halfway into the glob.

“I see that. Why?”

“I want to see what it does. How long it takes to consume it. The density of its… blobbiness. It’s so interesting, don’t you think? I’ve never seen any pest like it.” She pulled the stick out, the blackness coming along with it and creeping down the wood, going towards her hand. She rubbed it on the ground, seeing if it could be wiped from the stick, but it latched onto the soil and began consuming that as well. She tossed the stick into the mass and scooted back. The woman grabbed another stick, and smacked it quickly on top before examining it, finding it clean. She proceeded hitting it, leaving the stick a little longer each time until it began to attach.

Ivy made sure to stay behind Sakura. She wasn’t nearly as enthralled as the demon. Quite the opposite. Her worry grew along with the parasite, overwhelming her sensibilities. “I don’t know if I would call it interesting. How do you plan on killing it?”

The woman chewed her cheek in consideration. “I’m not quite sure yet. I saw a small white fleck from above earlier, but I’ll have to wait for Ren to check it out again. I’m thinking that it was its eye.” She stood and walked off, coming back with a rock the size of a watermelon that she tossed onto the parasite, watching as it slowly sunk into it.

“Do you think you can do it?”

The vixen smiled at the darkness before her. “We’re gonna find out.”

A small whine came from Ivy’s throat. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“It wasn’t necessarily supposed to,” she admitted as she turned to the girl, her smile and eyes soft. “It’ll be okay. You don’t need to worry about me. It’ll all work out one way or another.”

Ivy frowned. “You’re still not helping.”

Sakura sighed and hugged the anxious girl, smoothing her wavy hair. “I promise I’ll try not to die.”

“Sakura!” Her head jolted up with tears in her eyes. “Don’t say that!”

“I said I’d try not to,” the woman laughed and released the girl, going for another, larger rock that she threw onto the parasite. She played around with various sizes and weights of rocks, observing how long and in which ways they sunk into the glob. She had just thrown a long, flat stone when she heard wings and turned around, waiting for them to appear.

A hysterical Ren landed, immediately letting go of Zero as the boy dropped to his hands and knees and expelled everything from his stomach onto the ground. Ivy rushed to the devil and began rubbing his back, comforting him as he lurched and heaved.

“What the fuck did you do to him?!” the demon snapped at the man as she knelt on the other side of Zero, dabbing the perspiration from his forehead.

“Just a little detour.” The angel wiped the tears from his eyes. “He’s fine. He’s just being dramatic. Don’t worry about him. He’ll be back up in no time.”

Sakura bared her fangs, unimpressed with the man’s antics. “Maybe I need to throw you to the parasite!”

“You could.” He nodded with a wide grin. “But then who’s gonna help you get up there to kill it?”

The woman scowled and turned back to the boy. He was right. She needed him. Her only other options were flimsy fae wings and useless bones, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask an angel other than Ren for help. She’d throw herself to the parasite before that was ever an option.

Her silence said it all.

Things really were working out well for the angel.

“Enough of that shit!” Ren demanded of the devil, knocking his calf with his boot. “We’ve got places to be. Things to do. Time to get up. No one feels sorry for you. Quit screwing around.”

“I should have stayed home,” Zero muttered, swallowing roughly. He took a few deep breaths, making sure his stomach had stopped twisting and pushed himself to his feet, observing the vastness of the parasite in front of him for the first time. He hadn’t known what to expect, but it wasn’t this. How would anyone figure out where to even begin with attempting to exterminate something so formless and massive?

It was like the ultimate puzzle.

Zero hated flying.

But this had been well worth the trip.

“Do you know how to kill it?” the boy asked.

“I’m figuring it out,” Sakura decided confidently as she flung another stone.

“You leave it alone. Don’t touch it,” Ren scolded lightly as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her away. “I have to make my demands first, and then you can have at it. Come on, we gotta go to the castle.” The man turned and began his way through the forest as the others followed.

Ivy looked up at the angel, violet teeming with panic. “Ren, is Zero going to be okay here? There are so many angels. What if they see his eyes?”

He smiled lovingly at the girl, wings of darkness shrouding him, an ominous creature. “It’ll be alright, Little One. Remember, this is my kingdom now. I’m God here.”