Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Despite having lived for more than 3,000 years, the concept of the necropolis was still unknown to Meliodas. Isn't it supposed that once you die you can never be reunited with your loved ones, unless they die?

But that doesn't matter, he is fascinated by the idea, and what better excuse than to look for King, to enter the necropolis.

He turned to look at the rest of the sinners present, they all seemed lost in thought, as if they were all going to say that their minds were blank, when in reality they were all thinking about those people who are no longer present.

According to what the souls of those children said (because yes, he knows they are dead) the door opens through memories shared with the dead, normally he would not think about anything and let one of the other sins open the door, but today...today he wants to see if he can find her, maybe yes, maybe not, he doesn't know, he doesn't want to get hopes or wrong ideas.

He and the rest of the sins, except for King who was hiding in some bushes, entered the area where the door should be, it was an arid place.

~~~~~~~~~

"Mother!!! Mother!!!" Upon hearing the voice of his son, a woman turned her head. She had black hair and black eyes, with a black mark on her forehead.

“What happened, my emerald?” She said with a softness in a mother's characteristic voice.

“Today Chandler taught me the Full Counter!!” A blonde boy, no more than 6 years old, waved his sword in the air, while talking to his mother.

“That's incredible, little emerald, but remember you have to keep your voice down, we don't want your father to get angry.” The woman crouched down to the child's height, caressed his hair while reminding him of one of the basic rules of their house.

“I will continue training, so I can defend you from him, you will no longer have to be afraid, I will protect you” The little demon exclaimed in a low voice, while looking into his mother's eyes with a seriousness rare to see in a child.

“Thank you, sweetheart, but while you get stronger, I will be the one to take care of you.” She hugged his son, while avoiding tears from his eyes.

“I am very proud of you, I always will be, no matter what you do, I will always love you, always, no matter what, you are my son and I love you, do you understand, Meliodas?” The queen shed a few tears, but without stopping hugging her son.

~~~~~~~~~

Diane's voice brought Meliodas out of his head. “Look, Captain, there are a lot of flowers.”

Upon hearing that, the blonde was surprised and turned to look around and just as the giantess said, the previously dry field without plants was now full of flowers and grass.

“Mr. Meliodas, did you think of anyone?” Elizabeth approached him, swaying back and forth gently.

“Nope, my mind was blank” The leader of sins lied, not wanting to share his memories or feelings with anyone.

A few seconds later the flowers took off from the ground and began to fly, surrounding the sins in a tornado of flowers. When the tornado left, they were able to observe a landscape with green crystals and a yellow sky. The demon looked around in amazement and longing, this was too similar to the mountains in the Demon Realm.

While he was distracted his best friend saw the shadow of an old love, and ran after it, with the Fairy King following closely behind.

"Captain! Shall we follow King and Ban?”

“No, we should take care of our partner first, don't you think?” He turned around facing a woman who was at the tip of one of the crystals.

“I knew that sins were exceptional but I didn't think you were capable of feeling me, Dragon of Wrath.”

The battle was complicated for the sins, since they had to prevent Elizabeth or Hawk from being hurt, not to mention that their captain had his head in the clouds, thinking about that magic signature that is so well known, but that he cannot identify who it belongs to.

The battle was already believed to be lost for the sins, but they managed to change the balance thanks to King's intervention. The body of Guila, the holy knight, began to fade into small particles.

“It's good that you're here, King” Diane smiled at King, the aforementioned just blushed and nodded his head.

While the sins spoke among themselves, Meliodas turned desperately, trying to find the owner of that magical presence.

“May I know who you are looking for, little emerald?” A woman's voice echoed between the crystals, drawing the attention of the sinners, but especially the dragon, who desperately searched for the owner of the voice.

"Who are you? Show yourself” Ban roared with his guard up.

"As you wish” Several particles of light came together, forming the silhouette of a 1.78 woman, with long black hair, and green eyes.

Meliodas was shocked when he saw her, his eyes began to accumulate tears. “Mother,” he whispered with a lump in his throat.

"Why is my little emerald crying?” The woman approached Meliodas, and cradled his face in her hands. The younger demon let out the tears he was holding back, and hugged the woman in front of him tightly.

“Forgive me, I didn't mean to do it, please” Meliodas whimpered as he cried, his actions surprising Sins.

“Little emerald, look at me” the woman grabbed her son's jaw and forced him to look at her. “You may have done it, but he was the one who made you do it, I will never, ever blame you for that, do you understand? “I will never blame you for something you have been forced to do, I will always love you, my child.”

The dragon of wrath simply nodded as he hid in his mother's arms. “I'm glad you found happiness with these people, take care of them, they love you, and you love them.” She caressed his son's back, while small tears ran down his cheeks.

“Let me go, it wasn't your fault, move on, don't let my death stop your whole life, continue, I'm not asking you to forget me, it's impossible, I know, just move on, I will always love you, I always will.”

The sins remained motionless before such a scene, not knowing what to do, it was the first time they had seen their captain so vulnerable.

“I am proud of you, and your brother, no matter what, I will always proudly pronounce that they are my children.” She hugged him tighter while kissing his cheeks softly.

“I love you, mom, thank you for loving me.” The little blonde clung to his mother.

“Me too, it's time for you and your friends to leave, the necropolis is rejecting you, go, I will always be taking care of you, my little emerald” She releases him and gently elps him in the direction of the sins.

“Take care of my son, please” Those were the last words that the sins heard before being expelled from the necropolis. Everyone stayed silent, watching their captain wipe away his tears.

“Captain, are you okay?” Ban asks, worried about his friend.

“Yes, Ban, everything is fine” The dragon of wrath assured, as he looked at the sky, holding back more tears that were fighting to come out, as he walked towards the tavern slowly.

“Paint the face of that holy knight over there, for my sake, do you want?” He turned to look at his companions without stopping walking.

Chapter Text

Many things had happened since the visit to the Necropolis, but the main thing was the end of The Holy War, for Meliodas there was nothing better than being able to live with the 2 people he loves most in this world, Zeldris, his younger brother, and Elizabeth. . , his wife.

After several talks, and many fights in which he was a punching bag for Zeldris, he managed to rebuild his relationship with his brother, nothing would be the same, but they could be better, all that time invested led them to this moment. Zeldris and Meliodas sitting in front of a lake, just the two of them surrounded by trees. A peace that neither of them thought would come to exist.

“Sorry Zeldris.” The older demon broke the silence, head down.

“Ahhh, how many times do I have to tell you that I've already forgiven you, asshole?” The black-haired man responded, already knowing that his brother regretted leaving him behind. “You didn't know what to do, you were just a teenager”

“It's not for that reason” Sin said, between murmurs.

“So…why?” The ex-commandment of mercy asked confused.

“I'm going to tell you the whole story…so that there are no misunderstandings.” The dragon of Wrath mentioned.

“Before you were born…father was very violent, too much, at any trifle he would hit me and mother, but they were not soft blows, they were strong, several times he broke our bones with a single blow, it was horrible.” Meliodas says in a serious voice, stuttering at times.

“I…I didn't help…I was a crybaby…weak…and he hated that.” The blonde, realizing that tears were running down his cheeks, stopped what he was saying to wipe them away.

"Among the punishments he gave me was watching him rape my mother, or raping me, he said that the moment I became a man I would stop doing it, because until that moment I was nothing more than a faggot.” The older demon took a breath, meanwhile his younger brother looked at him in surprise.

“Shortly after you turned 5, I made him angry, I didn't manage to master Full Counter in the time he wanted…” The lump in his throat was annoying, it prevented him from speaking, he tried to calm down and continued. “He forced me to kill our mother” Zeldris was already stunned by everything that had just been revealed to him, he knew that his father had been much harsher with his brother,...but up to that point.

“Did you…accept?” He said more affirming than asking.

“Yes, it was you or her, she asked me to kill her, because she did not have a bright future,...you on the contrary...you had a great future...everything could improve for you, sorry, if I had been stronger, she would still be alive."

Upon hearing his brother's words, Zeldris stood up and slapped him with a force capable of knocking him to the ground. “It wasn't your fault, idiot, they forced you, understand? I can blame you for a lot more shit, but not for this.”

He shouted, standing over his older brother, who began to cry due to his younger brother's words. For Zeldris, this day was officially the strangest, his older brother, an immovable wall, emotionless, crying like a little child. Meliodas wiped away his tears, and sat down.

“I talked to her in the Necropolis, she said she was proud of you, please live your life happy and proud of who you are.”

With those words they both sat shoulder to shoulder, in silence, just contemplating the landscape, Zeldris assimilating the information he had just been given, and Meliodas trying to assimilate that he had just revealed something very private to his younger brother. But in the end, none of that mattered, they were brothers, no matter what happens they will continue to be brothers, if their brotherly bond manages to survive the war they will be able to against anything.