Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

“So, this only happens in cities?” Ren asked, thoroughly considering everything the woman had told him about the girl and her odd ability.

Sakura nodded. “And larger towns. There’s never been an issue with men in smaller towns and villages though. There’s a lot of staring…” She glanced at the hooded girl whose beauty put even angels to shame. “Obviously. But no one’s attacking her like in the cities.”

It was the midday rush in the busiest market square in all of Lannistown. The mixed-match group sat at a bench watching the crowd pulse through the area.

“Alright.” Ren stood and offered his hand to Ivy. “Shall we give it a go then?”

“Stay aware,” the demon cautioned. “The change can happen pretty fast, so you need to get her out of there at the first sign of anyone acting off. And watch your bracelet. Some of them get pretty erratic and just grab at anything around her. We need to do this discreetly, and those wings are gonna cause a huge spectacle if they come out.”

“Look at you, worrying about me.” The man grinned at the fox. “Come on, Little One.”

Ivy nodded and took the angel’s hand, rising to her feet. She untied the strings and slipped the cloak from her body, handing it to Ren who draped it over his arm as they made their way into the crowd.

Sakura and Zero watched as three men froze. Almost simultaneously, they made their way towards the girl as other men slowly started to do the same. It was no more than a minute before Ren threw the cloak over Ivy’s head and sprang to the nearest rooftop with her. The men stood there, as if in a daze, before looking around and quickly continuing on their original paths.

The woman studied them carefully. “It’s like they don’t even know what they’re doing,” she thought out loud. “Then once she’s gone, they just… snap back. I’ve never actually had the opportunity to watch it happen. I’m normally in the middle of it. It’s disturbing to say the least.”

“I’m sorry,” the devil muttered quietly, staring at his hands in his lap. “I asked her to remove her cloak. If I hadn’t done that then none of this would have happened. I promised you I would protect her, and I didn’t. When do you plan on killing me?”

Sakura looked at the boy next to her on the bench. She wanted to laugh at his quiet resignation but felt too sorry for him. He was normally of constant tepid character, but since yesterday his demeanor had been somewhat gloomy and remorseful. He was actually quite miserable to look at.

“Zero, how old are you?” she asked.

Zero’s brows furrowed slightly. “Eighteen?” he answered more so as a question. “I think.”

“You think?” Sakura felt almost blindsided by his uncertainty.

“I was never given an age until Ren told me that I was probably fifteen. So I would be eighteen now.”

The fox gaped at the boy, in wonder of how he didn’t even know his own age. Perhaps devils paid no mind to that sort of thing, too busy creating havoc to pay attention to how many years had passed since the birth of their child? She pushed the onslaught of questions firing off in her head aside, making note to interrogate later.

“Do you think Ivy’s pretty?” She knew it was a stupid question.

Zero’s body stiffened before forcing a mechanic nod.

The woman stifled another laugh at the devil’s awkward reaction. She didn’t want to make him even more uncomfortable. It was already bad enough. “It’s not crazy that an eighteen-year-old boy would want to walk around with a pretty girl without a giant cloak covering her whole body. I don’t blame you for wanting that. I wasn’t happy with Ivy for going along with it since she knows better, but maybe if I had been honest from the beginning it wouldn’t have been an issue. You didn’t do anything wrong, and when she needed you, you were there. You did what I asked so you can keep your life, for now.” She smiled teasingly, and he nodded with a little more fluidity.

Ren landed next to the bench and set Ivy on the ground, the cloak over her head like a ghost. “Well, that was unsettling,” he grimaced. “No wonder you keep her locked up so tight. It was just a bunch of half dead looking guys professing their undying love. We stayed up there a little longer than probably needed, but I wanted to make sure they all were back on the move.”

Sakura looked at him, determined. “Do it again.”

“Well, Little One, you heard her.” He pulled the cloak off and they returned into the belly of the beast.

For half an hour, Ivy and Ren would walk into the crowd, men would surge around the girl, and the angel would make a clean escape with her. The other two continued to sit, observing their surroundings.

“They’re all human,” Zero was the first to break the silence. “Other beings don’t pay much attention to her. They look but they don’t go to her.”

Sakura nodded. “And they’re all within about a four meter radius before being drawn in. Once they’re farther away they go back to normal, and don’t seem like they remember anything.”

“Why does that happen?” he asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She shook her head, exasperated. “I thought if I could find out what Ivy is, I’d be able to find where she came from. I’ve spent years trying to figure it out and have still never heard or read of anything like this. There’s succubi and enchantresses, but they have to knowingly seduce their targets, and there’s limitations to their powers. Ivy just lures them unwittingly, but it only happens in large groups.”

Ren and Ivy returned for close to the two dozenth time.

“Again?” the man half asked, already pulling back the cloak.

“Wait!” The vixen stopped him. “Let Zero go.”

“You sure you want to risk these two running off again?” he joked.

Sakura was too concerned with her working theory to notice Ren’s jests. “You two walked around yesterday, right?”

“Yeah,” Ivy peeped from under the cloak.

“For longer than what you’ve been walking with Ren?”

“Uh huh. No one bothered me until I went to the fountain by myself.”

“Then go.” The woman pushed the boy from the bench. “Let’s see what happens.”

Zero stood and freed the girl from the cloak, and Ivy smiled sweetly at him. The devil’s chest squeezed tightly as he grabbed her hand and pushed into the swarm of bodies.

Ren smiled at their backs. “Aww! They’re growing up.” He looked at the woman fondly. “You used to hold my hand like that.”

“You used to be less obnoxious,” she calmly shot back without taking her eyes off of where the two had disappeared.

“That’s not true.” The man shook his head with a snort. “I’ve always been this level of obnoxious.”

Further and further, Ivy and Zero were swallowed into the crowd. They melded into those around them, no more noticeable than anyone else. No men stopped, or reached out to the girl, or tried to speak to her. They all merely passed, going on with their day.

“Zero!”

The boy looked back towards Ivy to find her practically shining.

“Nothing’s happening!” she laughed, every inch of her radiating with joy, her violet eyes practically glowing.

The devil’s breath caught painfully in his throat as his body went numb, and the pulling in his chest intensified. He wondered if this was how all of those men felt. The unbearable urge to reach out and take her, filling the emptiness that had only continued to grow since he had met her. One that only she could fulfill. A need to remedy it at any cost.

Sakura had said that the girl was pretty, but it just didn’t seem like it was enough. She was more. Zero remembered what the fox had said before.

She was life.

She was everything.

And he wanted more.

Ivy pulled back from him, her face flush, their arms extending, hands losing touch. “Just wait,” she said as she moved back one small step at a time.

The devil mourned the emptiness in his hand and wished to reclaim the warmth but stood there doing as he had been told. The girl had made it more than six meters before the first man froze mid stride. Zero was already there wrapping the cloak around Ivy and pulling her into him before the man’s foot hit the ground. The dazed man blinked a few times, and continued on as the boy’s gaze followed him until out of sight.

He opened the cloak and looked down at a beaming Ivy. “Not that far,” he warned gently.

“Ribbon!” she sang, and it turned to silk in Zero’s hand. She pointed her chin up. “I guess you’re stuck with me now.”

The devil nodded, his fingers working the ribbon around her delicate throat slowly, taking advantage of every moment of skin contact.

The lack of response had Ivy unsure of herself. “I still have my cloak so it’s okay if you don’t want follow me around,” she haphazardly backpedaled. “You don’t have to at all. It’s not like it’s your responsibility to take care of me.”

Zero finished tying the ribbon and took Ivy’s hand in his, the warmth returning. “I want to,” he said simply, and started back towards their waiting companions.