What Have You Done

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sakura asked, watching the boy walking ahead of her with concern. Though he had terminated pests in the past, it was never something he willingly volunteered to do. And, to be perfectly fair, he wasn’t always the best at it. Smaller pests were simple enough for him, but that wasn’t saying much. The boy still had moments of hesitation of which weren’t a big deal with the more docile pests but could be catastrophic when it came to the fiercer ones. Why he was choosing to take on one of those now, she couldn’t imagine.

“Of course he’s sure,” Ren rushed to answer. “If he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have offered. Stop trying to change his mind. Let the boy kill it.”

The woman ignored him. “You don’t have to feel like you have to do this. I know it’s not something you like to do.”

“It’s not,” Zero agreed, leading the way off of the road with Ivy on his arm and through the maze of crooked banyan trees—their branches seeming to melt into the ground, skewing their path deeper into the forest. “But I want to.”

Though Sakura wanted to as well, it wasn’t something she wanted to argue with the devil over. He had taken the initiative to speak up and take on the task. The last thing she wanted to do was shut him down in order to fulfill her own wants. There were plenty of pests, plenty of opportunities for her to do what she loved later on. If Zero wanted this one, then she would give it to him without complaint. “Spikes can be difficult to exterminate,” she warned. “Even harder than tunnelers. There’s no way to get to their brain from the top. You have to get passed their tusks and avoid getting trampled to slice open their throat. Then you’ll have to crawl up in there and force your way to its brain. It’s messy, really messy, and there’s no way to avoid that.”

He didn’t seem too concerned. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Alright.” She nodded, trying to not cross the line from helpful to domineering. “Do you want me to go ahead and sniff it out for you?”

“No, thank you.” Zero stopped and the others did the same. Without a word, he closed his eyes as Ivy slipped away to stand behind him with the angel and demon in silence. Minutes passed with only the breath of the breeze around them.

Sakura nudged Ren. “What is he doing?” she whispered.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he whispered back, unwilling to take his eyes off of the boy in case something of interest were to happen.

“He’s calling it,” Ivy informed them softly, a small smile on her lips as she watched.

They turned and looked at her with a shared mixture of confusion and shock, their two voices becoming one. “Calling it?”

She nodded but said nothing else.

The man and woman glanced at one another, unsure of what to say or how to proceed with the information given to them as the ground beneath them began to vibrate, growing in intensity with every passing moment. They could hear the pest long before they could see it, its rapid, thunderous footsteps beating down on the earth while it crashed against the trunks of the trees and tore through their weeping branches.

Zero opened his eyes and walked towards the commotion as the monstrous beast erupted into sight, toppling the trees in its path with a mighty swing of its head and the half dozen twisted tusks that protruded from the sides of its mouth that was lined with rows of gnarly, needle-like teeth. The pest slowed at the sight of the boy before coming to a complete stop along with him.

“It’s alright,” Zero called softly, extending his hand, palm up, to the pest as though beckoning a beloved pet. “Come.”

It obeyed, slowly walking up to the devil, its dark, liquid eyes focused solely on him and stopped just before him.

Zero stepped between its sharp tusks and up to the beast, so much taller and wider than himself, like a house cat to a wolf, and ran his fingers through its rough, ash-gray fur. It lowered and pushed its head gently against his hand, seeking the comfort he was providing. A gentle purr rumbled from its chest, its eyes drifted closed, finding tranquility.

“You’ve been around for awhile. You must be tired. Scared. Is that why you’ve harmed so many?”

The pest inhaled deeply, exhaling its warm breath slowly in response. 

The boy nodded, a swirling of the creature’s emotions filling his soul and becoming his own. “I understand. It’ll be okay. I’ll help you. Knell.” It obeyed, its large legs bending at the knees and resting on the ground while Zero closed his own eyes and pressed his forehead against the beast’s. “Sleep,” he whispered, so lovely, so kind, so giving.

Little by little, piece by piece, like the first snow of winter, the pest dissipated, each fragment carried off by the breeze and away from the town that had come to fear the creature. Zero stayed with it, his head against its, his hands tangled in its fur, until there was nothing but the air against his skin. He opened his eyes, finding himself alone, and turned to go back to his companions.

The man and woman gawked at the boy in silence, unable to string together enough coherent thoughts to form words. The girl smiled sweetly, tears streaming steadily down her cheeks.

Zero went to Ivy, taking her face in his hands, and wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I made you cry for me again.”

“I don’t mind.” She reached up and pulled him to her, her lips greeting his.

Sakura watched the two, the way they came together so harmoniously, a perfect combination.

Like night and day.

Natural.

Meant to be.

But there was something more.

Something boiling inside of her.

And not even the vision of something so beautiful could contain it.

“What the fuck was that?!” the woman snarled, finally finding her voice. “That’s not how you kill a fucking pest!”

Zero tilted his head towards the vixen, the girl’s hands still holding his face close to hers. “I didn’t kill it. I freed it.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you did! That’s not how you fucking do it!”

He stared at the enraged woman for a moment longer, deciding he had no interest in listening to her inevitable tirade, and turned back to the girl to accept more of her affection.

The rage rumbled throughout Sakura, ricocheting underneath her skin and seeking escape. This was an extermination that she had wanted, desired, needed in order to quell her undying thirst for devastation. How patient she had been, how she always had to be, waiting around for these precious moments where the pressure could be relieved like opening the spout to a whistling tea kettle. But that opportunity was gone now, and it had been unjustifiably taken from her.

No.

She had given it away.

Like a fool.

She should have known something wasn’t right when Zero was willing to take on the pest on his own.

She had no one to blame but herself.

Sakura’s face twisted into a hideous scowl as she spun on her heels and stormed off. She didn’t make it far before everything within her erupted, being too much to hold back any longer. A scream unlike any other—something otherworldly and sinister like a nefarious spirit from beyond— roared from her as she grasped her glaive, tearing it from the baldric and slicing the blade clean through the banyan tree’s entangled roots that grew from the tall canopies into the ground. Over and over, she swung the blade with an unnatural vigor, demolishing everything in her path while forcing her way to the main trunk.

Ren admired the woman from afar with a very pleased grin. “You really did it this time, boy. Way to piss her off. She’ll never allow you a shot at another pest again after that weird, soft fae shit you just pulled.” He glanced back at the pair who looked on with horror at the rampage, no longer interested in their own personal affairs. “And rightfully so. That was beyond fucked up. I raised you better than that. But what’s done is done.” He turned back as the glaive began its annihilation of the colossal trunk, one destructive strike at a time. “Well, looks like we camp here tonight. It’s gonna be awhile before she tires herself out.” He paused, thinking it over. “If she tires herself out.”

Ivy pursed her lips together. She couldn’t stand to see the woman like this, so engulfed in her own anger with almost no way to bring herself out. “Do you think someone should try to talk to her?”

“Absolutely not!” Ren snapped, taking the girl aback by the sudden intentness in his tone. Rarely was the man serious or concerned or show fear, but that was not the case now. “I’m not dying today and neither are you. We stay far away from her. Don’t talk to her. Don’t even look at her.” He looked Zero up and down, considering the option. “You’re the one who created this problem, so you can be the one to go if you really want.”

“I don’t want to go,” the boy rushed to answer. Though death wasn’t necessarily a concern for him, he did still value his life.

“Good choice. We’ll just stay here and wait her out. She can’t be angry forever.” He went back to observing the woman who was already halfway through the tree, her screams becoming more feral the further she got. “Hopefully.”

It was not looking so good.