"But...we thought Ali was the new vampire god...?" Tristan asked. "We did too...but we don't really have anything to go on on what a vampire god would be able to do...but she can create things out of thin air. It makes sense that she and Rin balance one another," Meliodas replied. "Yeah...but why?" Tristan wondered, we all wondered. "My theory is Mom and Rin became gods to fill the void that was left from the death of the Demon King and Supreme Deity. Considering Mom is a descendant of the original Vampire God and Dad and Uncle Mel are sons of the previous Demon King, it's no surprise one of us filled that void. Tristan could've just as easily with Aunt Elizabeth being the daughter of the Supreme Deity too. But what triggered it for Mom was probably when she used the magic ritual she inherited from the Vampire God and when she got pregnant, Rin became a god of destruction to balance her creation," Azriel answered after walking in. "You always were smarter than the rest of us, Az," Meliodas giggled, his hands behind his head.
"Azriel, congratulations on becoming the new Demon King. Mother extends her congratulations as well," Tristan smiled at his cousin, his eyes closed like his mother. Azriel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm not the Demon King yet." Zel grinned at his firstborn, "Might as well be, you've grown into the role really well, Az. You're gonna be better than I was, for sure." Azriel blushed, "Only because I had you to guide me. Iseldis isn't sure how to feel about being the Demon Queen though," he giggled afterward. I giggled as well, "She won't have to do a lot probably, I didn't do anything except for take care of you kids. You're gonna do great, baby." I hugged him tightly, making him blush even more, "Now. Onto the time discrepancy, how would this happen? Did someone put a dimensional warp around the demon realm? The only one I know who could do that is..." I looked into Meliodas' blue green eyes, "Merlin," we muttered simultaneously.
"But why would Merlin do that if she's with Arthur? She created this chaos herself," Zeldris pointed out. "Maybe she's regretting her actions? But I don't know what a dimensional warp that changes the time linearity between our realms would benefit unless..." I trailed off. "What, Ali?" Zel asked, holding my hand as he felt my anxiety skyrocket, Meliodas grabbed my other hand at the same time. "Unless she's waiting for Rin to grow up...even if he was born a god of destruction to balance me out specifically...his destruction magic would be helpful against Arthur's chaos magic anyway," I pondered quietly, my heart beating quickly. All of us were silent until we heard Amaimon yelling after Rin again, "Rin! Come on buddy, they're busy in there you need to leave them alone!" We then heard Rin huff followed by a loud crash. All of us sprinted out of the throne room and saw Rin glaring at a hole in the wall. "Maimai!" I shouted as I ran over to help him up, "Are you okay?" He nodded and looked at his baby brother then to me, "I know you don't want to hear this, Momma, but this is the second time he's done this. The first time was to Asta...he's got Uncle Mel's temper worse than him. I don't know why Rin's acting like this all of a sudden."
Meliodas and I looked at each other with worried expressions then to our little guy who was still glaring at his older brother, tears welling in his brown eyes. "Mel...we gotta do something, he just knocked Maimai on his ass at 5..." I implored sadly to my blonde lover in my head. "I agree, but we didn't even have this much trouble with Asta when he was his age. Sure he had a temper and it'd sting if he hit you but...Rin is on an entirely different level..." Zel's voice came through as he picked Rin up. "Rin...you need to apologize to Amai, okay? That wasn't a nice thing to do to your brother, you could've really hurt him. Did you want to hurt him?" Zel asked him softly, his hand under the boy's chin to make him look into his green eyes. The tears started falling down his chubby cheeks as he shook his head, "No...I didn't want to hurt Maimai..." He looked at his older brother, "I'm sorry Maimai, I didn't want to hurt you..." he sobbed a little then hid his face in Zel's neck. "It's alright, buddy. I'm not hurt, but that's because I'm older and tougher. You know you can't do this to your sister and Lenny and Levy, right? You could really hurt them. But it's still not something you should do to anyone, regardless of how tough the person is, okay?" Amaimon reminded him quietly as he stroked his hair. Rin nodded against Zel's neck but didn't respond, instead just tightening his grip on his Uncle's shirt as the adults around him glanced at each other with concern.
"I'm gonna try to talk to him but...I want to take him to Britannia to see Danafor. I think it's what helped get the message across to Asta back then. Sure he's still hotheaded but he doesn't act on it anymore," Meliodas' voice rang through our heads. I glanced at the younger brother holding our son then back to the older brother, "We're going too. We can go the day after Azy's coronation." They both nodded at me, "I'm gonna take Rin to bed, Tristan there's a room setup for you that your Dad can show you to. Ali, you should come with me," Zeldris announced then looked at his older sons, "Amai, Az..." He grinned at them and ruffled their hair, "I love you guys." They grinned back at their Dad, for having such a shitty father himself, theirs was fantastic to them. "Love you too, Dad," they each answered before heading towards their respective rooms. Meliodas took Tristan to the room he'd be staying in after glancing at his youngest son in his brother's arms, we could see the guilt in his eyes.
Rin was still silently crying on Zel's shoulder, sniffling every so often. "Hey baby? Why'd you hit Maimai?" I asked him softly, playing with his hair a little as we walked. "I was mad...but I didn't mean to push him so hard, Momma..." his voice cracked as he spoke, "Asta says I have Daddy's temper but I...I...Momma, why am I different than Azy and Nini and Maimai and Asta and Lenny and Levy? Maimai and Asta are kinda like me but even Daddy and Uncle are mostly different than me...what's wrong with me?" My heart ached when he looked up at me with his big sad brown eyes, he didn't understand but we didn't really either. I also wasn't sure what he meant by Amaimon and Astaroth being sort of like him nor Meliodas and Zeldris being mostly different but I wanted to focus on him so I decided not to ask. "It's okay to be different, buddy. There's nothing wrong with you at all. Momma's like you, so you're not alone okay? Momma's here for you, I'm here for you, your Daddy's here for you. And all your siblings too, we all love you very much and we're always gonna love you," Zeldris reassured him, his voice was so full of love and concern, it made me tear up a little. Rin finally gave him a small smile, "I love you, Uncle Zel...but why are Momma and I different? Why aren't Maimai and Asta like Momma and I or you and Daddy and everyone else?"
Zeldris sat him down on his bed and we sat next to him on either side. "We don't really know why, baby. It just suddenly happened to me one day, then when you were born we realized you were the same. We think you're like me so you can balance out my power with yours, isn't that neat?" I tried to explain, rubbing his back, still confused about my other two sons and my lovers. "You mean my destruction magic?" he asked, looking at his tiny hands. "Mmhmm, because Momma has creation magic. The universe likes having balance and you are the special little guy that gets to be the balance to me. No one else can do that except you, Rin. I think that's pretty cool," I squeezed his small body against mine in a side hug. He grinned at me, "That is cool, Momma! We're like a team, just you and me!" he giggled and made a small ball of destruction magic in his hand. Zel and I were shocked, he'd never done it in front of anyone but me before.
"See this Uncle Zel? This is my destruction magic! It feels different than my darkness magic and Momma says not to use it on anything except things she makes," he explained excitedly, holding the ball of magic up so Zeldris could see it better. Zeldris grinned at the boy and ruffled his hair, "That's awesome, buddy! I'm pretty jealous, I can't do that!" Rin giggled, "Momma, can you make something so I can show Uncle Zel what it does?" I smiled softly, "Sure, baby." I held my hand out and created a small lump of iron ore in my hand, then sat it on the bed side table. I'd had him practice his aim with darkness so he could get a grip on it before practicing with his destruction. He tossed it to the iron ore, a small explosion occurred and the ore was gone, no trace of its existence at all remained. Zel's mouth was agape. I'd explained it to him but seeing it was something different entirely. "Wow, buddy! That's pretty amazing. But, promise me this, never use that on a person and never use it unless absolutely necessary, okay? Only if it's life or death, alright?" Zeldris held his pinky out to the boy who smiled and wrapped his pinky around his Uncle's. "I promise, Uncle Zel! Momma, when Daddy comes in here can I show him too?" he asked excitedly.
Zel and I were feeling better, it seemed the violent outbursts were stemming from his anxiety about being different from his family besides me...and apparently two of his older brothers and maybe his Dad and Uncle. "Of course! In fact, he's on his way here right now," I smiled at my youngest child, he was a sweet boy, he just didn't understand and frankly we barely did either. "Daddy!" Rin shouted and sprinted over to Meliodas, ramming into his legs and making him stumble in surprise. Meliodas picked his son up and smiled, "I see you're feeling better, little man. Did Momma and Uncle Zel talk to you about what happened with Amai?" The boy nodded, "Yeah...I didn't mean to Daddy...I love Maimai, I don't want to hurt him..." The blonde poked his son's nose, "I know you didn't mean to, little man. Daddy's got a temper too, and I'm gonna take you to see something in a couple days of what happened when Daddy lost control, okay?" Rin nodded then he got excited again, "Daddy, I wanna show you my destruction magic!" he exclaimed and wiggled out of his Dad's arms. Meliodas looked at Zeldris and I in shock, we both nodded in agreement to the shock.
"Okay, Momma! Make something please!" he was giddy standing in front of me, making me smile. I created a small rock in my hand and handed it to Rin who sat it on the ground. He made a ball of destruction magic and held it up to his Dad, "This is what it looks like!" Meliodas grinned at him, "Pretty neat! Let's see what you can do, little man." Rin giggled then dropped his ball of magic on the rock, again a small explosion then nothing remained as if it never existed. Meliodas' jaw dropped like his brother's, "That's amazing, Rin..." his voice trailed off as he knelt down to be at eye level with his baby boy. "Hey baby, promise me you'll only use this when you or someone you love is in severe danger. Like someone might die, okay?" he encouraged softly. Rin glanced at me then back to his Dad and nodded, "I promise, Daddy," his voice barely above a whisper. Meliodas smiled then covered the boy's face in kisses, making him squeal, "Okay, it's time for bed now. In the morning your biggest brother gets to become the new Demon King and you gotta be rested or else you might fall asleep during the big party!" He picked him up and put him in his bed, I tucked him in and kissed his forehead, followed by Zeldris and Meliodas. "We love you, baby. We'll see you in the morning," I whispered. He was already drifting off to sleep as he replied, "I love you too Momma and Daddy and Uncle Zel..." his voice was groggy and trailed off, making us all smile at him lovingly.
We left his room to track down his sister who was probably still sprinting around the castle somewhere. "Daddy!" she shouted as we found her near the kitchen, she sprinted up to Meliodas giggling and jumped into his arms. "Hey babydoll, ready for bed?" he grinned, she looked just like me with his hair and eye color. She whined, "Noooooooooo, I'm not ready for bed!" I giggled, "Mira, you gotta go to bed. Azy's coronation is tomorrow and everyone has to be there, which means staying awake the entire time," I poked her tiny nose, she giggled in response. "Momma, do I have to go? Why does Azy have to have that thingy anyway? Did Uncle Zel have one?" she questioned the three of us as we continued walking to her bedroom, it was next to her twin brother's. "I didn't Mira, but when I took over the realm there wasn't a Demon King at all anymore and I had to rebuild everything with your Momma," he informed her. Her little mouth was in the shape of a small 'o', making all of us chuckle.
When we got her to bed and said our good nights, she grabbed Meliodas' shirt before he walked away, "Daddy...is Rinny okay?" she asked softly, her blue green eyes were full of sadness and concern. The three of us glanced at each other, "Why wouldn't he be, babydoll?" Mel asked his little girl, wondering what she had to say. "He doesn't want to play with me and Lenny and Levy anymore and he seems...lonely? Sad? It makes my hearts hurt, Daddy...I don't know how to help him..." tears welled in her eyes and started to fall down her chubby little cheeks. All of our hearts were wrenching, especially Meliodas and I. Our little guy was more like the old Mel than we realized and our little girl was honed in on his emotions like I was with her Dad. He smiled at her lovingly, "The most important thing you can do for Rin right now, Mira, is make sure he knows you're there for him and that you love him, okay? That's how you can help him," his voice was soft and gentle and his words made my heart ache. What would've happened had I known I loved him back then? What would the three of our lives look like right now? We probably wouldn't have the babies we do now, and I wouldn't change anything because of them. She nodded at her Dad and laid down, falling asleep quickly after saying she didn't wanna go to bed.
After Meliodas quietly closed her door, I hugged him tightly, "I don't want our baby boy to be lonely," tears trickled from my eyes. He hugged me back and sighed into my hair, "He just needs to know we're all here for him, that's what made me stop feeling lonely, Ali. He's a lot more like me than I thought..." he admitted softly, I felt his own tears wetting my hair. I smiled, "And Mira's a lot more like me than I realized." I sighed heavily, "Do you know what he means by Maimai and Asta not quite being like he and I? Or that you two are mostly different?" They both shook their heads, equally as confused as I was.