—-My POV—-
Zeldris gently shook me awake and filled Meliodas and I in on what was happening just outside the demon realm's portal to Britannia. Meliodas wanted to go with him but Zeldris insisted he stay here with me. "You better come back to me," I told him worriedly after kissing him passionately. "I will, Ali. I'm not using the seal, I'm not taking any chances. Dezran and some of the vampires will be with me as well. If anything I'm going to protect them from being wiped out," he reassured me. He kissed my forehead then left the room. I clung onto Meliodas, "I can't help but be worried about him, Mel." He stroked my hair and held me tight, "I know Ali but he's the Demon King, he'll be alright. Plus he's my little brother, I taught him to fight and I'm pretty confident I was a good teacher considering we're both alive to this day." I grinned at him and kissed his lips, "Wanna go again?" He looked a little tired and exasperated, making me giggle. "I'm kidding. I think I'm finally satisfied, at least for now. Plus now I'm worried about Zel and the others, so I'd rather just cuddle," I admitted. He breathed a sigh of relief, "That sounds like a better plan, as much as I love fucking you."
"What do you want to name the baby?" I asked, drawing circles on his chest with my finger. He hummed, "If it's a boy? What about Azazel? Or for a girl, Rin?" he suggested. I glanced at his handsome face, "I like Azazel but I really like Lilith for a girl. Lily for short. Though Azazel is close to Azriel so maybe Egyn or Iblis for a boy?" He looked at me with wide eyes, "What?" I asked worriedly, "Is something the matter?" He sighed, "That illusion Arthur put me in. It was you in labor with my baby, a girl, that we named Lilith. Now I'm wondering if he can predict the future? What the fuck..." My heart was pounding suddenly, "I don't like that. He needs to be stopped asap. What the fuck was Merlin thinking?" He shook his head, "I don't know, Ali. She definitely tricked us though." I breathed deeply a couple times to get control of my pounding heart then smiled to myself, "What'd she look like?" He grinned down at me, "Blonde messy hair, your face and eye shape, my blue green eyes." I smiled back, "I think I can deal with two blonde babies." I rolled over and sat up, "I'm gonna go see Niya and Levy, wanna join me?" He sat up as well, "Sure. That little baby loves me most out of all these kids anyway," he grinned.
"Momma, how are you doing?" Niya came over to us, holding Levy. She had Levy 3 months after Lenora was born, before I'd found out about myself being pregnant. Levy was a white haired, blue eyed baby girl and really did love Meliodas, she always smiled when she saw him. I didn't think I saw her cry once when he held her. "I'm tired. I'm sure Azy told you but your Dad went to get rid of an ambush waiting to happen right outside the portal so I came to see you and little Levy to distract myself," I grinned at the baby as Niya handed her to me. Niya sighed, "He did. I know Dad is trying to keep us all safe but I wish he'd think of himself for once." I cooed at Levy a little before looking back at my daughter, "I know, but he's always been that way. Plus, you and Azy have babies. I'm pregnant, Meliodas isn't going to really want to leave my side right now...He obviously isn't going to send your younger brothers and he didn't want to send Dezran himself nor was he going to send Ror'an with his dad. So he went himself." She smiled at her baby in my arms, "Have you picked out names? I can't believe I'm going to have a sibling 30 years younger than me." I elbowed Meliodas next to me, grinning, "Blame him. We've talked about them but nothing concrete yet."
—-Zeldris' POV—-
"I know this is your first battle as vampires, probably first in general given the lives you had as humans. Dezran and I are here to back you up and protect you as needed, but I really want to see how you measure up against Arthur's knights. That's why we left all of the demon army behind. According to Azriel, there aren't many but enough to overwhelm if it were just two or three of us going to Britannia. I want Arthur to get the message that he can't fuck with the Demon King and his people. He tried to kill your Queen and Prince Meliodas a few months back. Show him what we do to people who try to harm our own," I told the vampires before me. I tried my best to lead my people such that they knew I didn't believe they were fodder to use at my disposal, another reason I wanted to go there myself. "We trust in your leadership as the king, Lord Zeldris. We'll do our best to defeat them!" one of them declared, making me smile. "Alright, let's go then. Be ready for an immediate ambush once we exit," I warned.
I was right, as soon as the first of them exited they were attacked. I was proud though, they were holding their own well against the knights. One of the knights looked at me, "The Demon King finally shows his face! You are the reason Camelot was destroyed in the second Holy War yet you masquerade as someone who just wants peace. You're nothing but a monstrous demon who has no place here!" He shouted as he ran at me. One of the vampires came to my defense, knocking his helmet off. My eyes widened in horror, he couldn't have been any older than Amaimon. Arthur was having kids fight his battles and claimed we're the monsters? "Don't kill him!" I ordered, grabbing him from the ground as he was about to be pierced through the heart by one of my soldiers. "How old are you?" I demanded, knocking his sword from his hand like I was swatting a fly as he tried to stab me as a last ditch effort. His eyes were full of fear but he mustered up enough courage to answer, "16, Mr. Demon King. Please don't kill me! I haven't even kissed a girl yet and I really wanted to visit Liones one day and I haven't had Vanya ale and I wanted to see the Fairy Kin-" he was rambling, tears spilled over his cheeks.
I was raging internally. He didn't look like Amaimon or Astaroth in the slightest but I felt like I was looking at one of them in that instance. "Are the rest of you just kids as well?" I asked, trying to not let my voice show how angry I was. He nodded furiously, "Erza's the eldest! She's 18...Arthur said we needed to grow up and face the realities of the world so he sent us!" I'm going to kill that bastard myself. "Stop! Don't kill any of them! They're just kids!" I shouted at my soldiers who immediately stopped. "I'm appalled at the disgusting leadership shown by your so-called king, sending children to fight his battles. My youngest sons are your age. I'd never let them fight in my place; they deserve to be kids for just a little longer. I wouldn't even allow my eldest children and their lovers to come tonight because they just had babies of their own a few months ago. I won't force you to come back with us, but should you want shelter from Arthur's tyranny you're welcome to come to the demon realm for refuge. You won't be forced to become a vampire should you not want to. We don't force anyone to become a vampire, despite what you may have heard. We have ways for humans to survive there now," I finished my speech and looked at Dezran who nodded in agreement.
The kids looked at one another and slowly started dropping their weapons, one by one. "You really mean that? You'll let us come with you?" a young red-headed girl came up to me and asked. She gave off a calm and confident persona. "Of course. I have no reason to lie to you. Way before you were born, I fought in both Holy Wars. Before that, I was a kid myself and fought against the goddess clan constantly for the previous Demon King. War is no place for kids, even if they aren't mine. My youngest son and the one on the way are technically my brother's children but I treat them as my own. Kids are kids, they all deserve love and understanding equally...sometimes adults forget that," I replied. The look in her eyes softened with relief, "I-I'll come with you. I don't agree with Arthur's personal vendetta against the other clans." I smiled at her then looked at the others, "Anyone else?" There were only 10 in total, they all wanted to come. "Dezran, give them the pills. We're heading home. Ali's probably a nervous wreck right now," I ordered.
—-Erza's POV—-
I was panicking internally standing before the Demon King. He was several inches shorter than me but he was intimidating nonetheless, one of his eyes was as black as his hair, the other glowed red, and I couldn't read his face. I was shocked by his words, the adults around me growing up portrayed him as a ruthless murderer yet he stopped all of his soldiers from killing any of us because we were the same age as his kids. He seemed genuinely concerned for our well being and even offered us refuge? I was confused but I didn't want to fight for something I didn't believe in. "Here, this will prevent you from getting sick from the miasma in the air," the man who'd been standing next to the Demon King handed me a small pill that I took hesitantly. He grinned at me, "Your hair reminds me of my son, Ror'an. He's Zeldris' daughter's lover. I guess husband is what you humans would say." I looked at him confused, "...Zeldris?" He laughed heartily, "The Demon King. I see Arthur isn't giving you names, perhaps he thinks that'll make him sound more monstrous. Maybe you'll get to see Zeldris around his granddaughters. Completely different demon than you just saw, he's a big softie at heart...don't tell him I said that or he'll feed me to the induras," he grinned at me.
I couldn't help but smile back at him, hearing that made me feel better about my decision to defect from Arthur's army and flee to the demon realm. "Where will we go once we're in the demon realm?" I asked nervously. "The castle, of course. Zeldris brings all the new humans and vampires to the castle until they're acclimated to the realm. You'll meet his sons, Azriel, Amaimon, and Astaroth. Technically Astaroth is his nephew but he helped raise him. Those three help out with the new recruits training while Niya, his daughter, and a few of the other ladies help with general acclimation. Amaimon and Astaroth are around your age, I think you'll like them," he answered, giving me more information than I asked for but I appreciated it regardless.
Once all of us had taken the pills they'd handed us, each of the soldiers grabbed one or two of us. "There's a possibility you'll get separated from the impact of entering the demon realm, so we'll hold onto you for that. Then we'll fly to the castle. I'll let Ali and Meliodas know we'll be expecting newcomers so they can let the others know," Zeldris informed us. Dezran was next to me with the soldier that I'd been paired with, "How will he let them know?" I asked. Dezran looked at him then back to me, "They can communicate telepathically as well as anticipate each others' actions and feel each others' feelings. Incredibly helpful for long distance communication and battle in general." I looked at Zeldris in amazement, even with Arthur's chaos magic, how did he expect to defeat powerful foes like the Demon King, the Fairy King, and the Queen of Liones when they were all allies?
The demon realm was strange, it was dark. The landscape mostly barren and rocky, purple, and instead of a sun there were two moons. Though it was nighttime, so maybe that was the reason. They flew quickly, it was amazing to be up that high if I was being honest. The castle itself was stunning, unlike the castles I'd seen in Britannia it was dark and gothic. The air was strange and tasted almost bitter, I assumed that was the miasma they were talking about. We landed at one of the doors and a pregnant, pale, dark haired woman holding a white haired baby greeted Zeldris with a kiss. That must've been the Demon Queen and the blonde man next to her that looked like Zeldris must've been his brother, the other Prince. We walked through the doors and saw beds with some necessities stacked neatly on top of them. I watched the woman hand Zeldris the baby, it must've been one of his grandchildren Dezran mentioned. It truly was like looking at a different person, he cooed at her and grinned when she smiled at him. "Hey, how's it going? I'm Astaroth," I heard a voice break me away from my stare.
I did a double-take, he looked identical to the blonde man chatting with Zeldris and the woman. "I know, I know. I look just like Dad, demon blood is pretty strong. Poor Mom has two Uncle Zel doppelgängers and one of my Dad. Niya looks like her though," he explained, giggling. "Are you not a full demon?" I asked him. He shook his head, "Dad and Uncle Zel are the only full demons in the family. Ror'an too if you wanna count him. Mom is half-vampire, half-goddess so all of us kids are technically mutts." I looked at the woman again, "She's half-goddess? And her lovers are demons?" He nodded again, putting his hands behind his head, "That kinda stuff doesn't matter to them. Who cares what clan anyone's from. We all have thoughts and feelings, all of us bleed when cut. It's the kind of person they are that matters." I smiled at him, "I'm Erza. It's nice to meet you," I held my hand out to him to shake. He looked at my hand in confusion, "This is how humans greet each other when they first meet, give me your hand," I explained. He furrowed his brows a little then extended his hand. My heart skipped a beat when I touched him, making me blush like crazy. What the hell was wrong with me?