To Be A Prince of Hell

Chapter 6: Hydra

Meliodas sighed. It had been almost a week since he'd last had any information on these "Abaddon's Avengers" and his father was losing patience quickly. He knew he was running out of time and if he didn't find these bastards soon, his father was going to send the Six Black Knights in his place. Meliodas gritted his teeth. The Six Black Knights would cause more harm than good and that idiot knew that! They might get the job done, but they'd kill a massive amount of civilians in the process.

Meliodas once again pored over the information Salem had given him. It was a list of high ranking officials in the Prison that could be the traitor and any information about them that could prove necessary. He was especially focusing on any from either Cadiz or Akragas. If Abraxas or Amaris were a part of this, then perhaps their people would be also. He'd already interrogated 3 officials–one from Akragas, the other two from Cadiz. Nothing. Any of them could be the traitor. Or none of them. It was beyond frustrating.

A knock came at the door to his library. Meliodas scowled. "Enter." The door opened and Gowther came in, closing the door behind him. "What is it?" Meliodas growled. "There had better be a good reason why you are here." The doll bowed. "I've been training with Prince Zeldris as you've asked. His dodging and reflexes are quite good now." Dark red eyes narrowed. "Stop beating around the question. What do you really want?" Gowther laughed. Meliodas snarled at him. "What are you laughing at?!" "You read me like a book!" Gowther announced gleefully. Meliodas stared at him, confused as to why he sounded so happy. "I really need to work on my poker face," he said, giggling.

Meliodas was suddenly exhausted with the other Demon's child-like nature. "Just get on with it." Gowther nodded, still smiling. "I can't train him anymore. Prince Zeldris is a physical fighter, like you. His magic is strong, but it pales in comparison to his physical strength. And I, obviously, am not a physical fighter. I rely on my magic more and that's not what he needs." Meliodas growled. "Fine. I'll take up his training from now on. Leave." The doll bowed cheerfully one last time and left.

Meliodas, left in the safe privacy of his library, allowed himself to slump down in his chair. He had been putting off training Zeldris himself while he dealt with the traitor problem. And he simply couldn't stop working on this now to go train with his younger brother. This was more important. He grabbed the papers again, resolving to let Zeldris train on his own until Meliodas finished his investigation. He'll be fine. I might get jumped more often, but–

Suddenly, he realized something: Zeldris hadn't tried to catch him off guard since their "spar" at the Prison. Meliodas frowned. Ever since Zeldris had grown old enough to walk and control his abilities, abet to a small degree, he had been trying to catch his elder brother off guard. It was something that annoyed the elder prince, but he had actually gotten used to it. It was just something they did, Meliodas's own form of training the brat even before he had begun his official training as a soldier. In fact, Meliodas hadn't seen his brother once in this last week. He'd been so caught up in finding the traitor and this organization, he'd let it slip his mind.

Before he even consciously decided to do so, he slipped the reports into a drawer and stood up, making his way to the door. I'll just go and make sure the idiot isn't dead, Meliodas thought. Besides, it's not like I was getting anywhere with those papers. It might do me some good to get out of this damn library.

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It didn't take long to find him. Zeldris may have gotten better with his fighting, but he still couldn't hide his energy worth shit. Meliodas hovered over him, staring down at his little brother as he skipped rocks over the Styx, the river that flowed next to Tartaros. "Stupid elder brother," he heard him mutter. Meliodas raised an eyebrow. That was not what he expected. He debated landing right in front of his brother and scaring the shit out of him. It'll test his reflexes, Meliodas pondered. It'll also be funny as hell to see him jump.