Turning Back The Clock

Turning Back The Clock: Chapter 36

Each door the two brothers went in had a week increase of time from the last it seemed, as slowly but surely, Meliodas's injuries improved. Although what was more important to the observing party was that for every week that seemed to pass, every guard they had trained him to possess when dealing with the other races seemed to falter and eventually fall.

A fact that the two siblings did not enjoy. After all, humans were food! Pathetic creatures that could be killed with the flick of a wrist. Truly the ants of the world! And one's demons were taught early on to despise due to the Demon King's hatred for them after they earned Chaos's love. But it was clear to see that none of these facts seemed to bother the blond at all.  No, he was endearing himself to them as slowly his smile began to return and any attempts to see them as what they truly were ended up quickly dismissed. The sight made a lot of Zeldris's old bitterness return as he knew these same creatures were part of why his little brother had left. Though, in the past he had thought it was merely just a realm for the boy to escape to, and a reason to be seen as the "Hero who banishes the evil demons" once the commandments returned. But now, he begrudgingly had to witness that it must've been partly due to a genuine love of them. Similar to how he assumed a human loved their livestock and kept some as pets. 

Yet, even if the blond did feel these shallow affections towards them, how on earth could it trump over the love he felt for his own blood? How on earth could this short time among humans lead to the rebellion he led? Zeldris truly wasn't sure, as any sort of care for humans was entirely foreign to him. But he would have to swallow his pride and find out as he kept watching, because there was a very real reason the boy had fought for these mortals... and there was much more to it than just a means to escape his own kind, like the ravennete had previously thought.

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Meliodas laughed as the young children all eagerly fought for his attention. He had learned so much about humans in his time here. One of the biggest lessons being that the species really wasn't that different from his own. Humans could play as much as they worked, just like the ten commandments, and they had families they loved dearly just like Meliodas himself. In fact, in a few ways... he seemed to have more similarities with them to his own kind. 

They held such a deep compassion for each other. One similar to family bonds, like the one he had with his siblings back in the demon realm. But it wasn't limited to family alone. In fact, the whole village seemed like one big family! They all loved each other, lived together in the small but happy community, and they took care of each other even when it did nothing to improve their own poor homes. It had seemed so wrong at first, coming from a realm with exact opposite morals and ideologies, but after being here for the past month, it seemed to slowly be reawakening the same feelings in him! He had often wondered as a boy why things had to be so harsh and cruel among his kind. In fact, he had many sleepless nights crying about such a thing. But with years of training and lessons on why the demonic way was superior, and how it was smarter not to care for others beyond your lineage, he had excused that yearning desire as nothing more than a child's silly wistful thinking. Yet here it was in reality. Here, he had a chance to be a part of the fantasy he had always imagined. Here, he got to see a society built on the love and trust he had coveted for so long. 

That I never got back home. 

He frowned at his own thought, dismissing it quickly as a twinge of guilt filled his hearts. 

Stop that. Don't be foolish, of course I got that back home. Zeldris and Estarossa loved me very much. 

The thoughts quieted down to a trickle he could ignore as he felt puzzled as to why they appeared to begin with. He could think of several instances where his brothers showed him love and trust. They used to spend so much time together! Why do that if they didn't love him? And they trusted him to fight in the war, didn't they? How could he be so ungrateful and question things like that when there was so much proof to sway those negative thoughts?

Although... surely that trust must've faded some now, with him losing in such a way. The ambush that could've been avoided his failed form in battle... his embarrassing wounds that he should've dodged... ugh, he didn't want to think about it anymore than that. It was too much to worry about right now and he had a job to focus on instead. His first, in fact.