—Azriel's POV—
"Did you sleep okay last night, Dad?" I asked as he ran his hands through his hair. "As best you can in a chair after your lover gave birth to twins, yeah," he replied, smiling. After Mom got pregnant with Astaroth, Dad was angry with Uncle Mel for so long and I didn't blame him but he never treated Astaroth any different. I could tell it would be the same with Mira and Rin, he seemed genuinely happy. We walked to one of the rooms we used as an office sort and sat around a table. Dad sighed and put his head in his hands, "How many?" Tristan thought for a moment, "Several hundreds." Dad lifted his head to look at him, "How many are just kids? We brought 10 here a few months ago that weren't any older than Amai and Asta." Tristan looked at me wide eyed, "Yeah. Dad and Dezran took some of the vampires to fight a group that was posted outside the portal to here. When Dad saw they were kids he didn't let any of our people kill them. They've been living here since. None of them want to return to Britannia, at least not right now. Two of them even seem to be smitten with Maimai and Asta," I explained.
Tristan sighed, "That's unfortunate...I don't think any of them are children...We have enough knights to face them by numbers but we'd like your help Uncle Zel. The chaos magic is just that...chaotic...and with demons and vampires in our arsenal I think that'll help." Dad nodded, "You'll have our help. Since Meliodas was the King we've been allies and nothing has changed from my end since he's been back here." Tristan gave him a small smile, "Thank you, Uncle Zel. I assume you'll need time to prepare, how long do you think?" He looked at me, "How long do you think, Az?" he asked. I hummed, "One week...two, tops. Will you have Uncle Mel go? And what about Maimai and Asta?" Dad shook his head, "I can't stop my brother from doing whatever the hell he wants so he'll probably go. Amai and Asta are staying here, end of story. You and Niya, too. Lenny and Levy need you." I frowned, "Yeah, and we all need you, Mom especially. I know you want to protect us Dad but if we lost you..." Tears stung my eyes at the thought.
He smiled at me and stood up, placing his hand on my head, "It's okay, Az. I'm not going to be reckless, I have too much to lose. My family's everything to me, but I'm not going to let that little shit Arthur do whatever he pleases. I made a treaty with Liones and I intend to keep it. Now, come here." I stood up and he pulled me into a tight hug, making me gasp a little. It was crazy to me how strong he was sometimes. My siblings and I had trained so much of our lives and were strong in our own rites but Dad, Uncle Mel, and Mom were on another level. That was the difference between training for fun versus necessity. Not that our training had always been for fun, but theirs never was. "Are you going to stay here tonight, Tristan? I know Asta would be thrilled to see you and Meliodas would like to spend some time with you as well," Dad asked him. Tristan looked at me, "It is getting late. You shouldn't be traveling alone in Britannia at night," I told him. He nodded, "I'll stay for tonight."
—Meliodas' POV—
Ali and I were curled up in bed with the bassinet next to us, looking at our new little babies sleeping. "We make some pretty cute kids," I commented, squeezing her against me. "I think they get it from me, all my kids are pretty cute," she replied, giggling. "Well that means you think Zel and I are cute since 4 of the 6 are basically our clones, so we contributed to their cuteness too," I insisted, making her turn her head to grin at me. She kissed me then grinned again, "Fine, I guess you're cute." I turned her around and kissed her a little deeper, slipping my tongue in her mouth and pulling her tightly against my body. I grabbed her ass, making her moan softly when my brother walked in. He rolled his eyes at me, "I leave you alone for ten minutes and you're already all over her," he scolded sarcastically. "Tristan's staying for the night. I figured you'd probably want to spend some time with him. Az took him to get some food," he informed me. I kissed Ali again then rolled out of bed, "Thanks, Zel! I would like to spend some time with him."
—Zeldris' POV—
Meliodas walked past me and out of the room and I took his spot in bed, pulling Ali close to me. "Hey," I whispered and kissed her. "You're going, aren't you?" she asked worriedly. "I have to Ali...I can't send Az or Niya, Lenny and Levy need them. Amai and Asta are too young, they're staying. I'd like Meliodas to stay here with you just in case...plus with Mira and Rin just being born..." I explained quietly. Tears were welling in her eyes, "No. I don't want you to. I've lived the majority of my life without you and I don't want to chance losing you again, Zel." I hugged her tightly, her tears wet my chest, "Ali...I'm not going to be reckless. All of you are too important to me, I have too much to lose." She shook her head, "What if you get sealed away again? What if you get killed? What am I supposed to do without you if that happens?" I sighed heavily, "I'd let you come with me but that's not happening. And if something happened to me...you'd still have Meliodas." She punched me hard in the ribs, "He's not a replacement for you!" she shouted, waking Mira and Rin who started crying as a result.
She looked at me with tears flowing down her cheeks, "If something happens to you...it'll kill me, Zel." Then, she turned to soothe the crying babies next to her as she cried herself. "What's going on?" I heard my brother's voice in my head. "Ali's upset that I plan to go to Britannia to help fight," I responded. "You're not going. I'm going. I feel responsible for Arthur turning out this way..." he insisted. I furrowed my brows, "Mel. You have two literal newborns, are you really prepared to leave them without a Dad if something happens to you?" I asked him angrily this time. "They wouldn't be without a Dad...they'd have you," he replied softly, I could hear the pain in his voice. I sighed heavily, "We'll both go. Without the seal on our power. We won't be able to stay long obviously, but with both of us...it should be significantly easier."
I looked at Ali, she was glaring at me with tears still streaming down her face. "You're both going, aren't you?" she asked, her voice mixed with anger and agony. I looked down at the bed, avoiding her question. I didn't need to answer, she knew already. Mira and Rin had calmed down so she climbed back in bed and laid her head on my chest, "I'll never forgive either of you if you leave me here alone. I can't live without you," she whispered, her voice breaking. I wrapped my arm around her, "We're not leaving you, Ali. We'll be careful...but we have to protect our family. And Meliodas obviously wants to go to protect Tristan and Elizabeth as well." She nodded, "I know...I think I'm just overly emotional from all the hormones still," she admitted. I kissed the top of her head, "Try to get some sleep. It'll be at least a week if not a little longer before we're ready anyway."
—My POV—
I woke up sweating. I didn't feel like opening my eyes but the heat coming off both the men on either side of me was too much right now. I wiggled out of Zeldris' grip on me and climbed over the top of him to stand on the cold floor with my bare feet. It helped a little but I wasn't feeling great, likely from having babies a few days ago. I looked down at Mira and Rin, they were cuddled together making me smile. I pulled a chair over to sit next to them and watch their tiny sleeping faces. I was wide awake now but it was the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake anyone up. I looked over their bassinet to the two sleeping demons in my bed and smiled softly to myself. "You two are the light of my life. I won't be able to go on without you, so you better not leave me," I whispered before I felt dizzy. I collapsed suddenly, crashing onto the floor and making a loud enough thud that it woke Meliodas and Zeldris. "What the fuck was that? Ali?" Zel called out quietly, trying to prevent Mira and Rin from waking up.
When I didn't respond they jumped out of bed, "Meliodas! She's over here!" Zel exclaimed, finding me unconscious on the floor. "What's wrong with her?" Meliodas asked, slightly panicked. "I don't know...but she's burning up. Can vampires get fevers?!" Zel was starting to panic as well. "I'll go get Xena and Tristan. She might know and Tristan has healing magic," Meliodas exclaimed as he hurried out of the door. He came back a few moments later, Zel had put me back on the bed. I was shivering but my skin was hot. "Xena...can vampires even get fevers?" Meliodas asked her. She shook her head, "I've never seen it before. Tristan, do you know what's wrong with her?" He shook his head, "I'm sorry Father, Uncle Zel. I can make her comfortable but I don't know what's wrong or how to make it go away..." Meliodas had his hand on my head, rubbing my forehead with his thumb lightly and Zeldris held my hand.
"Do you think Elizabeth could do something?" Zeldris asked Meliodas and Tristan. "Mother's healing abilities are superior to my own but it's a risk to travel with her in this state..." Tristan responded worriedly. Meliodas sighed heavily, "Zel...I know you don't want to send Amai and Asta to Britannia but they're more than powerful enough to handle themselves. They're even stronger than we were at that age...what if we send them to handle Arthur's forces? And we take Ali to Elizabeth. They can keep them busy..." Zeldris stared at my flushed face, despite Tristan's efforts to get me comfortable I was already panting and shivering again. "Okay...I'll do it. Az, Iseldis, Nini, and Ror'an can take care of Mira and Rin while we're away," he responded finally.
—Zeldris' POV—
I left Ali with Meliodas, Tristan, and Xena to go get Amaimon and Astaroth. I didn't care what time it was, their Mom was sick and deteriorating fast. I kicked their door open from frustration and heard two girls scream. "Oh for fuck's sake. Erza, Yami. Say goodnight to Amai and Asta," I growled in frustration. This is what I get for letting teenage girls stay in the castle with my horny teenage sons. Amaimon looked fearful, "Dad, we're so-" he started to apologize after the girls ran out of their room. I glared at him, "You know what'll happen if either of you get them pregnant, right? They'll die. So either make them vampires or don't see them anymore. But that's not why I'm here. I didn't want to do this to you, but we're desperate." Their fear transformed into concern, "What happened?"
I sighed heavily, "We need you two to fight Arthur's knights while Meliodas and I take your Mom to Elizabeth. She's suddenly sick, she has a fever and she's getting worse. We don't know what's wrong with her." They stood up immediately, "Do you think you're ready?" I asked them, concerned that I was throwing them into chaos. "We were born for this, Dad," Amaimon responded. "What was it that god called us? Cataclysmic offspring? I agree, this is what we were born for," Astaroth agreed, grinning mischievously.