"Well if Merlin was watching, and if I know her she most certainly was, that will have definitely gotten Arthur's attention," I pointed out. That was the only group following us so we were a little more laidback after. Amaimon and Astaroth were enamored by the sights around them like when we'd brought them here the first time as small children. We were still cautious enough that if we needed to we could defend ourselves quickly but it was nice to see the blue sky and green grass of Britannia again. Azriel and I were walking side by side while Amaimon and Astaroth walked on either side of Meliodas, chatting away with him. "There's a small group of humans to the east of Liones that have expressed interest in joining us," Azriel mentioned, "Roughly 10 or so. It's not much but it's a start." I nodded, "Vampires have much greater physical attributes than humans, we won't need to match them completely on numbers. Plus Liones and the fairies and giants are our allies."
"We'll take you to Liones first, then we can head to the village on our way back," I told him. "Mom, you can go ahead without-" he started to say but I interrupted him, "Hell no. You may be 29 but you're still my baby, I'm not leaving you by yourself when it's this dangerous right now! If you were in my shoes and it was Lenora, would you let her go alone? No, you wouldn't." He smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to pull me into a side hug, "Sorry Momma, I guess I didn't think about it like that," he admitted sheepishly. I smiled back, "It's hard to think about yourself in that way until you think about your own baby being in your shoes at that moment. Then you get how we feel." We walked for awhile but decided to fly the rest of the way so we could get there quicker. It was also less likely we'd be confronted again.
We landed just outside Liones, it hadn't changed much in the last few years when we brought the youngest boys when they were 10 and 11. "As always stay close. Even in Liones there are a lot of people that don't like non-humans," I told them. They grinned and nodded, they were just excited to be there. "Ali! Meliodas!" we heard a familiar voice call out to us. It was Gil, he was walking with a young man between Asta's and Azriel's ages that looked a lot like him but with purple hair. We waved at him as he approached us, "Little Gil! What's up?" Meliodas greeted, watching the man beside him. "It's been a long time. I don't think I've seen you since these two were small boys," Gil smiled, looking at Amaimon and Astaroth. It'd been so long since Meliodas had stepped down as King that most people were over it. "Hi, Gil. This is Amaimon and Astaroth and I'm sure you remember my eldest Azriel," I greeted him, smiling. He looked at Azriel, who was the spitting image of Zeldris, "If I didn't know your father had green eyes I'd think you were him," Gil joked, making Azriel smile.
"I don't know if you can believe it but I have a grandbaby now! Azriel and Iseldis welcomed a baby girl about a month and a half ago. By the way, I'm assuming this young man is your baby?" I exclaimed, then looked at the younger man next to him. "Oh yes, excuse me, this is my son Allan. He's between Amaimon's and Azriel's age if I recall correctly. Did you say grandbaby?! Congrats, Ali!" Gil hugged me, making Amaimon and Astaroth tense and defensive. He shook Azriel's hand, "Congrats! I hope she brings you as much joy as you did your mother." Allan was looking at us in disbelief, Meliodas and I looked like kids ourselves, "Father, you must be joking. There's no way this woman is old enough to be the mother of these men let alone a grandmother. And this is the Meliodas you spoke of, Tristan's father? I don't believe it!" All of us were giggling, "We're not human, if that helps. Our Dad is the Demon King and Mom here is a dhampir, a vampire goddess. Well, technically Asta's Dad is Uncle Meliodas, he's a demon too, but they're both our Dads to us," Amaimon answered proudly. Allan was in disbelief, apparently our identities had been kept secret. "Father...I knew the Queen and Prince were part goddess but...demons and vampires?!" his voice was more excited than anything, making my two youngest excited again.
Demons didn't really come to Britannia anymore and the only vampires were my family, so I guess it'd be exciting if you weren't a discriminative asshole. The boys showed off their fangs to Allan who was in awe as we chatted with Gil some more. "What brings you to Britannia after so long?" he asked, watching his son with mine. "I'm here to speak with the Queen about some matters that will inevitably effect both of our kingdoms," Azriel explained, looking towards the castle with some anxiety in his eyes. "Why didn't Zeldris come himself?" he asked. "I'm his representative when he can't. I'm the heir so it gives me practice for whenever he does decide to step down," Azriel responded, "We should get going Mom, Uncle Mel. It's urgent." I nodded, "Maimai, Asta. Let's go, Allan and Gil have things to do I'm sure." Gil and I hugged again and the rest said their goodbyes. "Allan's interested, Momma," Amaimon mentioned quietly once they were out of hearing range. Meliodas hummed, "I don't know if I want to do that to little Gil..." Azriel looked back at his uncle, "He's an adult, Uncle Mel. He can make his own decisions." I kept silent, Meliodas was always close with Gil and I didn't want to upset him on that front. Meliodas sighed heavily, "I suppose if he talks to Gil about it, I wouldn't be as opposed. I just don't want Allan to run off without Gil and Margaret knowing."
I interlocked my fingers with his and squeezed, he was feeling guilty for running off himself before Astaroth was born and he didn't want Allan and Gil to have a strained relationship. He smiled at me appreciatively. We approached the castle and Azriel went to see Elizabeth immediately. We headed to one of the other rooms to wait for him when we ran into two familiar faces: King and Diane. "Captain!" Diane exclaimed, running up to Astaroth as Meliodas was already out of sight. "Uhh, who are you?" he looked at her confused then looked back at me, "Momma, who is this?" She looked sad for a few seconds until Meliodas reappeared having heard her voice, "Yo Diane! What's up?" She looked between Astaroth and Meliodas and squealed, "He still looks just like you, Captain! How cute!" They both gave her a blank stare before Meliodas giggled, "It's crazy, right? Asta, Amai, this is Diane and King. They're two of the Sins from the group I was the captain of before you were born. You were probably too little to remember seeing them last time."
"I'll say it again but demon inheritance must be pretty strong to have two sons that look just like Zeldris and one like Captain," King commented, looking at my younger sons then me. I grinned, "They're cute, aren't they? Little mini-Zel's and a mini-Mel, though Azriel outgrew both of us so I guess he's not really mini anymore. Plus, he has a baby of his own now!" King and Diane's eyes widened, "You're a grandma?!" I giggled, nodding, "Yes, to a baby girl named Lenora. She looks just like her Momma." I was happy that over the years the bitterness between the Sins and us was gone, at least mostly. Merlin was obviously not an ally to us anymore and we didn't know where Escanor had gone. Gowther seemed to stay in the Fairy King's forest with the other three. "You two seem well. How's Ban and Elaine?" I asked them. "We're good," we heard Ban say behind us.
"Ban!" Meliodas shouted. "Captain!" Ban shouted back. It made me smile that they'd finally reconciled and were back to being buddies. "Don't go breaking the castle or Elizabeth will never let us come back," I warned them, making Meliodas giggle. "Ali's right, don't!" Elaine agreed. I gave her a tight hug, it'd been awhile since the whole debacle with Azriel and Lancelot and them finding out about Astaroth and with Arthur's intent on getting rid of everyone except humans we'd all come together again. "Dude. This half pint still looks just like you. Poor Ali, having to deal with two of you, I can't imagine!" Ban joked, looking down at Astaroth who gave him a mischievous grin. "He's a Momma's boy. He gives me more trouble than her," Meliodas replied, giggling. Ban smirked at his best friend, "We miss you, man. It's not the same without you here." He grinned back, "It's really not all that different considering you're not in Liones either. You can come to the demon realm to visit, by the way. We have a way humans can live there!"
Ban narrowed his eyes and looked at the three dhampirs behind Meliodas, realizing what his friend meant by humans living in the demon realm, "Mmm. Maybe after we figure out what to do about Arthur's bullshit. Is that why you're here?" We nodded, "Azy's here to speak with Elizabeth on Zel's behalf. Once we're finished here we'll be heading out," I informed all of them. King spoke up next, "Are you heading to the demon realm immediately after?" Meliodas shook his head, "We have some things to do before heading home." They all knew about the vision Bartra and Iseldis had had and weren't completely comfortable letting us roam about Britannia because of it. "Mind if we come along? It's been awhile since we've spent time with you, Captain," King responded. Meliodas' face was blank, knowing why they wanted to tag along, "Sorry, family trip only." It became so tense in the room, you could cut the air with a knife. King and Ban stepped slightly closer to us, near Amaimon and Astaroth.
They instantly activated their demonic and goddess powers, each of their green eyes turned black and their demon marks on their foreheads above their now black eye, their red eyes glowed with the goddess symbol in them. They had moved slightly closer to me in a defensive stance, Meliodas was still staring at his friends with a blank expression. "We felt a large amount of energy released earlier today, it felt sorta like yours, Captain. What were you doing?" King asked, he hadn't moved any closer once Amaimon and Astaroth sensed their intent. "Holy Knights of Camelot attacked us," Astaroth responded, glaring at the Fairy King. "We didn't feel a fight, just a one sided attack," Ban replied, he and Amaimon were glaring at each other. "I'm sure the Captain had a good reason, guys," Diane insisted, worried a fight was about to break out. "I'm warning you now, don't mess with my family," Meliodas threatened coldly. "Father?" we heard Tristan's voice at the doorway, he could sense the hostility in the air.
"Asta, how're you doing?" Tristan entered and walked past everyone, breaking up the tension in a way only he and his mother could've, he'd definitely inherited her gracious personality. The men around me didn't relax, but Astaroth shifted his eyes from King to his brother, "I've been better, Tristan. How are you?" Astaroth was nearly half Tristan's age but they were as close as they could be given they didn't see each other for years at a time. "I'd say the same. Can all of us speak civilly? There's no need to be so hostile towards allies," he replied, looking at everyone. He was a little younger than Azriel and Niya and had grown up well despite his tumultuous home life with his father's absence. He pushed his brother and cousin to sit down on a couch in the room, to which I followed. Amaimon scooted over for me to sit between them. Meliodas stood, as well as Ban and King but Diane, Elaine, and Tristan sat as well. "We're all painfully aware of the threat of King Arthur and his Holy Knights in Camelot. We need to make sure we have a good relationship between our three kingdoms to ensure we do not falter and fall to Camelot. Mother informed me Azriel was here representing the Demon King to speak with her but why are you not there, Fairy King Harlequin? I feel as though it's important for all three of you to speak together so we're all on the same page," Tristan spoke eloquently, he was definitely Elizabeth's son.
King frowned but knew the Prince was correct, "I'll head there now. I was on my way before running into old friends. I'll be back in a bit, Diane." He left the room quickly to join Elizabeth and Azriel. "Now! Father, it's good to see you. How has the demon realm been?" he smiled at Meliodas, who'd begun to relax a bit. Amaimon and Astaroth were still on edge with Ban watching them closely. "Peaceful. The people love Zel, he's a great Demon King. I'm thinking of opening the Boar Hat 2 there," Meliodas grinned, putting his hands behind his head. Ban couldn't help but grin at his friend, finally relaxing. It was like Tristan's calm presence was soothing everyones' souls. "Of course you are. You have always loved booze. I remember Mother telling me if I didn't drink my milk I wouldn't grow big and tall. I asked her if you were so short because you only drank booze," he smiled at his father, he'd gotten his height from Elizabeth. Meliodas faked a hurt expression at his firstborn's words then giggled, "You're welcome to help run it with me, but I don't think Elizabeth would care for you becoming a bar owner!"
Ban snorted laughing at the idea as did the boys beside me. Tristan was not the type of individual to frequent a bar, let alone help run one. "I appreciate the offer but I'll have to pass," he smiled at Meliodas, "Asta, do you still have aspirations to become the Demon King?" The blonde boy next to me shook his head, "I have another idea, more hands on. Azy's got it covered to take over from Uncle Zel." Ban glanced at Astaroth then back to Meliodas, "I'll have to come visit your new bar when it's open but hopefully you hire a cook," he grinned. Tristan looked at me, "Aunt Ali, where do you stand on your sons' hands-on approach to this impending conflict?" He glanced at the two boys then settled on me again. I looked at the rest of the adults in the room, Meliodas nodded, "I think it's a good idea. It'll undoubtedly be useful against Arthur's chaos magic and the staffs he's given his highest ranked Holy Knights. Only the willing are to be accepted as recruits to our cause." I finished by looking at Ban who was still occasionally glaring at my sons next to me. Tristan hummed before responding, "I agree. I've spoken with Az previously on this matter and he brought up good points. As long as the recruits know what they're signing up for, I think they'll be a great asset for us indeed."