Turning Back The Clock

Turning Back The Clock: Chapter 25

Zeldris had a blank look on his face while he processed what Meliodas had just asked him.

"Zeldy? Did I say something wrong? Are you okay?"

The worried question and light tug on his sleeve snapped him out of his daze as he tried to think of what the hell just happened.

"Meli... what's the last thing we did together?"

The child looked even more confused by the sudden question, but answered obediently after a minute of thinking.

"Um.... well I thought I slept in your bed last night, but I guess it was just a dream because I woke up in here. Oh! Oh! We did make cookies yesterday though. And I gave some to Esta too. Why do you ask Zeldy?"

His voice was so sweet and chipper. And he was calling the ravenette Zeldy again, did that mean... was the boy really...

Things seemed to click into place as he realized what had happened.

"Zeldy? Zeeelldy?"

"It's- It's nothing. I'm sorry Meliodas, I had a dream last night and I guess I thought it really happened. Go back to whatever you were doing before, I have to go take care of something, okay?"

He didn't give the boy a chance to respond before he left. His hearts were thrumming loudly in his ears and his anxiety was through the roof as he went in search for one person.

Estarossa did this. He erased his memories AGAIN. I don't understand why he would do this so soon. Everything happened TODAY. Couldn't we have at least tried to resolved things with him in another way?

He stormed through the castle without a word to anyone, intent on finding his elder brother and discussing this properly.

He checked the man's room, the kitchen, even the library, but the Commandment was nowhere to be found. Eventually the frustration grew and mixed with the stress Zeldris was under, leading him to yank a random maid aside.

"You. Have you seen my infernal brother Estarossa around here anywhere?"

The woman shook her head, eyes wide with fright at the sudden events and foul mood of her superior.

"Fine. I guess I'll check the garden next then. Maybe he thought that planting flowers would be a good use of his time after brainwashing our brother again."

Not giving the maid another second of his time, he stormed off in that direction and slammed open the glass door. Luckily finding Estarossa on the other side. Although that didn't provide much satisfaction as he intended to give the man a piece of his mind.

"Estarossa what the hell are you doing!? You erased Meliodas's memory again!?"

He had intended to say a lot more than that, but the demon interrupted before he got a chance.

"Keep your voice down Zeldris, we're trying to be discreet about this."

"Discreet about this? Seriously!? Why did you do this to begin with!? Why did you erase almost every memory Meliodas had made since coming back!? I know things got more complicated, but are you seriously going to erase his memory every time something like this happens? You didn't even try talking to him first!"

"Zeldris, you know as well as I do that this was more dire than something as small as a disagreement or a moment of defiance. He found out about the sins, and even with them irradiated, he'd still run away as soon as he was able. And before you say anything else, no. I'm not going to erase his memory every time something like this happens, because this is our last shot. We don't get another chance with him if this fails."

That knocked some of the anger out of Zeldris, those concerning words taking higher presidency.

"What do you mean we don't get another chance?"

Estarossa's face was stoic, resigned, and.. tired. As if this had weighed him down as well.

"The other Commandments have decided. We took a vote. This is our last chance with our little brother. If we fail and he finds out again... he'll be executed like originally planned."

Zeldris's eyes widened as a spike of fear shot through his hearts like an arrow.

"Estarossa... no! Surely you can't mean that!"

"Zeldris, listen to me. We both know history would've repeated itself if I hadn't done this. It was the only option other that kill him now while he's small. And- And you know I could never bring myself to do that. I won't even be a part of the execution if it comes to that...  So just appreciate what we have again. The sins are no longer a problem and we have our little brother once more."

"Have the sins already been killed?"

"No, unfortunately. In order to find out the bare minimum of how far back I needed to send Meliodas's mind, I had to ask him directly. He agreed to tell me when he met the sins after lots and lots of yelling and name calling on his end, but only if I agreed on mine to not kill the sins. They're in the dungeon with fifty guards through the entrance and ten seal spells in the area. There is absolutely no conceivable way that Meliodas could go down there at his level. The only ones who would be able to are you and I. Once Meliodas is a bit older and his power more of a concern, I'll kill the sins myself. By then we'll know for sure no memories are returning on their own."

Zeldris was silent. A lot of his anger faded for grief and thought.

"This... This doesn't feel right, Estarossa."

"I understand your concern. I truly do. However, we don't have another choice. This was the only way I could save him. And we won't run into the issues we did last time. The odd behavior you and I both noticed only started after meeting the sins again. We'll make sure that never happens. He'll grow up as the same boy we know and love. We'll do it right this time, and won't make the same mistakes as before. This is out chance to fix everything."

Zeldris couldn't bring himself to respond. Logically he knew his brother was right. This was their only option. But.... that didn't stop the guilt he felt, or the pain in his chest at knowing he'd have to lie again. This time with the knowledge of how much it hurt Meliodas when he found out.

He won't find out this time though. He won't ever experience that kind of pain again, Estarossa has made sure of it already and we've made precautions. And this time I won't be cruel or cold like before. I won't leave him be and let him stew in whatever is hurting him. I'll do things better. I'll make up for my lie with using the chance given by it as well as I can. To be better for him.

The thought was meant to ease some of the knawing regret he felt, but instead all it did was leave him feel more hollow. As the unsettling feeling in his gut deep down knew that this wasn't a chance to do better...

It was an excuse for when he failed.

Maaaaaan. I'm trying guys. T^T That's all I can say about the writing in this one.

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