~Meliodas~
I let the darkness -my darkness- melt away.
There was a presence heading toward me, but what did I care? I did not bother to wonder why I couldn't quite determine the power of the presence. No one in this world could challenge me, after all.
So I stood there, my weapons hidden away, my power scattered. Maybe this stranger would make me feel something.
I'd just returned from Purgatory -had felt the vengeful winds claw at my flesh, felt the horrid chill and sudden blaze of heat. Now all I felt was an odd emptiness. I was... numb.
I prepared to feel the rush of battle. I prepared to feel the blaze of my wrath. I prepared to feel.
Instead, the creature that landed in front of me fell far short of the mark.
In any other situation, I may have found her lovely. Oh, she was... but pretty faces were common. Power wasn't.
But her wings betrayed her to be of goddess blood. Perhaps she would entertain me, if only for a moment.
The goddess stepped softly toward me, and I turned pitch-black eyes on her. I heard her gasp of surprise, her wide golden eyes taking in my form. I smirked.
The goddess' hands immediately filled with light, and I felt one brow lift in surprise. The girl was stronger than I thought she'd be, and my smirk widened ever so slightly as she advanced on me.
And then I turned the full force of my Commandment on her.
The girl just took another step. Then another.
She stopped just in front of me, and I wondered how she hid the effort it took to stand so close to me. My Commandment must be sapping her strength, stopping her from coming any closer.
She gave me a tired smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hello, child, are you lost? I can help you return to your village." Then she hovered her glowing hands over me, and all my aches and pains melted away. Grabbing my hand, she led me away." Come, your village awaits!"
She... thought I was a human boy? It wasn't out of the question, I had none of my darkness, my weapons and power were veiled. Even my demon mark was hidden. As for my eyes... well, humans had dark eyes too, didn't they? It was already night, so it wasn't like the girl could see them clearly. She probably thought they were just dark brown.
That gave me the answer as to how the goddess had avoided the effects of my Commandment of Love: why would she feel any measure of hatred for a human? But I was unused to touch that didn't bring pain, and I offered no resistance as the goddess pulled me toward 'my' village.
***
"It looks like I'll be staying here for a while." The goddess forced a kind smile and continued,"We can stay together for the night, and then we can find your parents tomorrow. Deal?"
I could ask the goddess certain things while she believed I was human... or at least that would be the excuse. It would be a pain to pretend to be human, but it was better than having Zeldris find me. Knowing him, he'd probably find me by sniffing after my magic like some bloodhound. Then I'd have to listen to his nagging again.
I wasn't in any mood to have an all out fight with my brother either. This goddess seemed more amiable, and, even if she blew my cover, it wasn't like she would full-on attack me in the middle of a human settlement. Not that it would do much damage. Besides, this goddess seemed like the sentimental type.
So I only nodded mutely.
"So what's your name? Just calling you 'child' seems kind of patronizing." The goddess gave me another tight -likely fake- smile, and I dearly wished she'd stop doing that. It was annoying, these goddesses. They were never truly genuine, so how was anyone supposed to get along with them?
As for the 'patronizing' comment, if she'd known how obnoxious it was, why'd she do it? Goddesses and their backward logic. Then again, it was better than 'lowly human', so I could at least live with it.
"My name is..." obviously giving a goddess my real name was out of the question, but lying felt wrong somehow. " ... Mel." That was okay, right? Maybe she'd assume my full name was Meli-oaf-as, or something.
"Oh, how pretty! I'm Ellie!" There she went with her false cheer. Again. But today I was fine with that. Maybe I'd kill her for it tomorrow; I had done so for far less, after all. But for today, even false cheer made me feel like life was a little less miserable.
So I gave her my sweetest, most innocent smile -something I thought I'd forgotten how to do in Purgatory- and held out a hand for her to shake.
The goddess looked a little surprised, and this time, when she smiled, I could see it was genuine. She really was quite the beauty, and seeing her smile for real only cemented that in my mind. I even briefly considered letting her live. Right up until she ignored my hand and went right over to ruffle my stupid blond hair like I was an adorable child.
"Aw, you'll make a great young man one day!" she said, affectionately.
I felt my demon hissing, but to my surprise, it felt more like an annoyed pet than a ferocious beast.
I'm probably a couple centuries older than you, you foolish goddess, so if you treat me like a child one more time... actually, no, I won't kill you. Not this night. Not now.
"Anyway, are there any nice places you know? This is my first time in this village, so I don't really know." Ellie watched me expectantly, and I gave her a deadpan stare. Why would she ask a child where he thought they should go? Even if she thought he lived here, human children were just as young as they appeared. If a child couldn't find the way back home, how would he know a nice tavern?
I wanted to write Ellie off for a fool, but there was something there in her eyes, a spark of something... " Well, I'm sure there's a cheap place somewhere." My voice came out deeper than any child's should be, and I caught the goddess' knowing eyes, the flash of cunning.
She... she knew!
I instantly threw the girl into a nearby shadow, a little patch of darkness where hopefully no one would notice the goddess' death. No, actually, since Ellie was covering her wings with a traveling cloak, they'd just assume she was human.
I wrapped my hands around her throat, choking her, but I couldn't bring myself to break her neck. It made me feel... vaguely ill. Perhaps my ribs were still broken. So I pinned her to the ground, cutting off her air and hoping she'd pass out quickly. Besides, I had to keep relatively quiet, or the humans would act up, and I didn't want to waste my time smacking them away one by one. And using enough power to wipe them all out at once would attract Zeldris's attention.
But the goddess didn't go down so easily. She grabbed my right wrist, and a searing pain made me grit my teeth. It was likely her Purge ability, but I had never had that harm me like this... I stared at my wrist, which was a bloody mess. Who could even cast a Purge like this anyway? I had heard no incantation, no spell... Purge was an effective magic, but it was still quite slow. How had she-
I was tossed off her as she bucked, and I grunted as I felt my back hit the ground. I slid to my feet almost immediately, but it was surprise more than pain that slowed my mind and reflexes.
And in that two second window where she could have landed a hit-
Throwing out her arms like that pitiful gesture was supposed to ward me off, the goddess gasped out, "Listen to me, I don't want to fight, but if you keep attacking, this village will be destroyed! I'll have to signal the others!"
Others... so there were more? No matter. This girl wasn't anything too special, certainly any reinforcements she might bring were mere soldiers with no true power.
"I have no reason to let you live." I prowled ever closer, each movement almost animalistic in its liquid grace.
" I-I can help end the Holy War!" The goddess backed away, and I allowed a cruel smile to contort my face.
" I can end the Holy war too. By killing all of the goddesses." I should kill her now. This was the perfect moment. But I couldn't. It was like she had her own Commandment of Love, except it preyed on hesitance instead of hate.
Besides, I found that I did not wish to kill this... Ellie. The last couple decades had been spent being battered by my father in Purgatory, and I felt an overwhelming spite toward the creature that had broken my body over and over and over again.
I met the girl's golden eyes. My demon should be disgusted by them, but instead it felt curious. She had known. From the very first moment she'd seen me, she'd known of my demonic heritage. So why? Why had my Commandment failed to cripple her power? How had she come close enough to touch me? And... what did that mean?