One and the Same

Ivy turned away from the sink to gawk at the two new arrivals with a mixture of shock and panic. “Where have you been? I was worried something happened! Were you two out all night?!”

The pair stood just outside the entrance to the kitchen — having failed to sneak by— the woman somewhat awkwardly in the white dress from the previous day as the man had a new air of confidence about him that he certainly didn’t need.

“Damn right we were!” Ren’s face could hardly contain his glee.

The girl abandoned the boy and her chores to rush into the woman’s arms. “Was that area the parasite destroyed really that exciting that you couldn’t come back?” She sniffled into Sakura’s chest. Ivy just couldn’t imagine what was so great about it. She had seen it, and it was only dirt leading up to the absence of part of the wall. Maybe it was something interesting enough to look at for a few minutes, but to be gone for almost a full day seemed absurd.

“Oh yeah.” The man nodded. “One of the best days of my life.”

Sakura hugged the worried fae and smoothed her hair. “I’m sorry, Ivy. It won’t happen again. And you...” She glared at the angel, already questioning her earlier decisions. “Do you ever stop talking?”

He fixated on the woman with an avarice leer. “There wasn’t much talking going on yesterday, especially when you did that thing with your tongue. Just keep doing that, and you’ll fix my talking problem real quick.”

“Or I can fix your talking problem by taking your tongue,” the vixen shot back with a hiss.

Ren grinned with a longing sigh. “You know, I like it when you talk to me like that. That mouth of yours is filthy in so many wonderful ways.”

“Shut up! You are so annoying. Don’t say things like that,” she snapped while smacking his chest before tightening her hold on Ivy and laying a kiss atop her head. “Ignore him. He’s talking nonsense and being foolish. I’m gonna change, and then we’re leaving. Okay?” She gave one last squeeze before releasing the girl and walking off.

“Just wear that. Not like you got much use out of it yesterday,” the angel called after her.

“Oh, fuck you!”

“In a bit. Be patient.” Ren chuckled lightly as he watched the vixen disappear around a corner before turning his attention back to the fae. “Where’s the dumb bitch?”

Ivy startled at the crude inquiry. “Who?”

“The dumb bitch. Charlotte. You know the one.”

“You really shouldn’t call her that, it’s cruel and inappropriate, and she left for the castle a while ago,” the girl scolded him as she went back to the sink and took a wet plate from Zero to dry. “We’ve already had breakfast, but are you hungry? Would you like me to make you something?”

“That’s alright, Little One.” Ren looked back down the hallway, contemplating his next move. “I’m not hungry for food. We’re gonna go to the library soon if you want to come with us though.”

“Of course I want to come!” Ivy gushed without hesitation. She had walked by the library several times now with its grandiose towers and elaborate stained glass and couldn’t wait to browse through the enormous collections of books that the heavens were sure to provide, most of which could only be found there.

“Alright. We’ll head out in a bit. I got something to take care of first. Don’t come looking for us. We’ll come looking for you.” And his body followed the direction of his gaze.

Ivy turned back to Zero, a delicate eyebrow raised. “Is it just me, or was that stranger than normal? Do you think something happened out there?”

The boy had chosen to stay focused on washing the dishes and only offered a small shake of his head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to know. Some things are better not knowing.”

The girl nodded.

He may be right about that.

***

The library of The Kingdom was the largest the group had ever seen or stepped foot into.

It was also the emptiest.

Ivy rushed ahead, arms wide as she spun through the clear, open space upon entering. “It’s so big! Look at all of the books! Where would you even begin?”

“Wherever you want, Little One.” Ren grinned. “It’s all yours. Have at it.”

She stopped and looked up at the man questionably. “We’re not here to just read, are we?”

“There’s something I’m looking for, but you don’t need to worry about it. Go on.”

That was all the reassurance the girl needed as she skipped to the closest shelf and began browsing.

“Are you sure you don’t want help?” Zero asked. He glanced around the library, unsure of how even with help, the angel would be able to find what he was looking for. Although the shelves along the floor were easily accessible, the shelves along the walls were incredibly tall and required the provided ladders to reach most of the books. That was just on the first floor. There were four more on top of that. They could probably spend years in there and barely graze the surface.

“It’s alright. I have a good idea of where they may be.”

The boy wasn’t going to argue. He turned and went to join Ivy as the woman began to follow.

Ren reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Where do you think you’re going? I need your help.”

She should have known better. “Alright,” Sakura agreed. “Where are we starting?”

His hand slid into hers as the man guided her to the opposite end of the library to the shelves that reached the ceiling five stories tall. He used his free hand to point to the rolling ladder that leaned against them. “I’m gonna need you to climb that. Look around up there, but not too high. It won’t be up that far. It should be about…” He extended his arm fully above his head. “This high. That should make for a good view. I’ll be sure to stay close, in case you fall.”

The woman sighed as she yanked her hand from his in disgust. She should have definitely known better. “I think you can manage that yourself.”

“You know I’m terrified of heights,” the angel claimed, glancing at the knee length of the vixen’s mint skirt a little too long before meeting her apathetic gaze with a pathetic one of his own. “I need you. Don’t deny your king alpha mate these simple pleasures.”

“You’re on your own,” she stated dryly. “You should take your bracelet, too. Put it back on. That way when you fall, you’ll hopefully land on your head and knock some sense into it.”

“I doubt it would be that easy.” By no means did he really think his attempt would work, but it was still fun to try. He leaned over and kissed the woman, affection she willingly returned, and grinned as he pulled away. Getting to this point in their relationship had been long overdue, and he would be sure to take full advantage of it, so Ren claimed two more before spinning on his heels and sauntering off. “If you change your mind, come find me on the fifth floor. I’ll be waiting for you. We’ll have a good time.”

“Why the fifth floor?”

“It has the records I’m looking for.” Ren laughed as a book hit him in the back of the neck and he quickened his pace towards the staircase to avoid taking on anymore projectiles.

Sakura glared at the man’s retreating form, knowing she went too easy on him.

Maybe she was getting soft.

After all, love will do that to you.

The woman returned to the shelves and took her time in skimming over the countless titles before her as she twisted her way through the rows of books and back towards the devil and fae who had already made their selection and were sitting together on the floor— Zero’s back against a wall with Ivy’s back against his chest as they read the same book. She stood in front of a shelf close by, pretending to look, but instead watched the two from the corner of her eye.

There was really nothing extraordinary about them at first glance. Just a boy and a girl like any other. Of course, the girl was absolutely gorgeous, as she always had been.

But the boy…

He was as well.

The devil was good looking, very much so. That fact was nothing new to Sakura. But not until he stood before her in the perpetual vacancy of Purgatory, was she able to see him, really see him, as if it was the first time truly laying eyes on him.

He was radiant.

Ethereal.

Just as Ivy was.

But neither devils or angels possessed those qualities.

The fae did.

Sakura was sure that Zero hadn’t always been this way, but as time had gone on, it seemed he had started to take on those traits himself. She couldn’t imagine how. The only thing that made sense was that it had to have something to do with Ivy.

The rumor was that the fae only kept the company of multiple men until they came with child when they no longer had any use for them. However, that didn’t pertain to the girl. She was enthralled with the boy, always keeping him near and quick to tend to him. The customs of the fae had no bearings in her affections, and even though she had no recollection of her life prior to Sakura, the gathering and disposal of men was instinctual. It was in their blood, and something that couldn’t be easily ignored. It was survival and the furthering of their race.

Setting the fact that Zero wasn’t human aside, Ivy should have taken from him what she needed, a child, and left him to his own devices. Instead, she gave as much as she took, and he was beginning to emulate her.

Perhaps that was why the fae didn’t keep men around for long?

So they couldn’t attain their essence.

Their magic.

Sakura grabbed the first book her fingers touched and went to sit with the couple. She was curious as to what Ren was looking for in regard to Zero and the fae, but had no intention of venturing to the fifth floor anytime soon. She had created a monster. It would be for the best to avoid him for a little while.

The woman flipped to the first page but found it much more entertaining to observe the boy and girl next to her: how their chests rose and fell together, the way the devil turned the page without any indication that the fae was ready. As if he just knew. She already suspected that Ivy could sense Zero’s feelings, but maybe she could communicate on a different level with him as well.

It didn’t take long before they were looking back at the demon.

Ivy tilted her head with a small, inquisitive smile. “Why are you staring?”

She was probably doing a lousy job at hiding it. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah, ever since the bookshelf over there.”

Oops.

“I was just wondering how yesterday went?” It wasn’t what had been on her mind that very moment, but the fox was curious. And worried. Ren had filled her in the morning before as they went their separate ways and flippantly dismissed her concerns, insisting that the devil was a man now and could handle himself. That he didn’t need her to baby him. Which was true, but it didn’t stop her from doing so.

He was a devil walking into the quarters of the highest standing angel in The Kingdom, after all.

Of course she would have reservations.

“It was alright,” Zero stated with little interest.

Sakura pushed a little more, unsatisfied with his answer. “Were you able to talk to him? Find out more about him?”

His crimson eyes looked to her, sincere and gentle. “I didn’t want to find out anything about him. I went there to make him forget about me.”

That was not a response she was prepared for. Emeralds went wide, darting back and forth uncomfortably. “What?”

“I made him forget about me.” He paused. “Well, Ivy did. I was worried I might do it wrong and erase more than I would intend to.”

The woman gawked at the girl who was smiling and bobbing her head sweetly in agreement. “Uh huh. Okay. Alright. Umm…” Where would she even begin? “What? Why?” So many questions but so little ability to fully articulate them.

“It’s better if he doesn’t remember me. Angels want devils dead. I don’t want him to be split between his loyalty to his god and to his daughter. Besides, there’s no telling how long his loyalty to his daughter will last. If he has no memory of my existence, than it ceases to be an issue. We can continue on as we have been.”

Sakura nodded, unsure of how else to react. “How did you do it?”

“The same way I have in the past,” Ivy told her with a little giggle. “I just think it and say it, and it happens. You and Ren will be remembered, but Zero and I won’t.”

The disturbing realization that the sweet girl that the woman had raised wasn’t as darling and innocent as she’d always suspected slowly set in. To think that the entirety of the heavens had feared Ren when it was really this adorable girl who was the true force to be reckoned with. The damage she could do if she so desired was unimaginable. She had already put those left in the heavens to sleep during the extermination of the parasite. She had made the man in the den obey her orders, and now she was erasing memories. These were abilities that the fae had only recently discovered, and she already had this much control over them. To what extent would she progress? How much more power over others would she have?

It was a fortunate thing that the fox was on the girl’s good side.

“What about the other angels?” Sakura asked. “Charlotte? Do you think it may cause issues if she remembers you, but others don’t?”

Ivy turned back to the book in Zero’s hands, a delicate finger flipping to the next page. “You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ve already taken care of it.”