You are still Merlin. Gloxinia enters the room, seeming uncomfortable.
"So, uh, the corpses outside...?"
"Zeldris' work," you say, "I came in here to avoid the smell."
You turn back to the passage you planned to read. There's a small section in brackets about why followers of Zeldris should only sacrifice their own.
"I spoke with Aphrodite."
Which side is Gloxinia on if he's been speaking with Aphrodite? You keep your face expressionless. If he's on Zeldris' side, he might have useful information from the goddess. But if he's on the Demon King's side, he might try to force y/n into a lustful state to control her into sleeping with Zeldris to remove the bonds of the ritual.
"I'm a neutral party," he says.
Right. Of course. How could you forget that the former fairy king could read minds? How foolish of you.
"That tends to be the best way to keep alliances," you joke.
"I see you have the cultists' tome. Aphrodite told me about it."
"Do you want to look at it?"
"Does it give a reason as to why the cult needs to use its own members?"
"I found a passage on that very subject. I was about to read it when you arrived."
He nods. You read the passage. If he wants to listen as you read it in your head, well, you aren't stopping him.
Ah.
So that's their reason.
"She told me the same thing," Gloxinia says.
"Does Zeldris know? He's not trying to make--"
"No, no. He knows but he's not allowed to discuss it. Aphrodite said that anything that happens between them is natural. He wouldn't make someone--"
"What else did Aphrodite say? Has she spoken with the Fates about it?"
"It's a funny thing. It doesn't always keep in line with what Fate designs."
"What was y/n fated to...?"
"She was destined to die at the hands of her ex but now..."
"Sounds like the Fates have some weaving to do."
"They aren't happy about it. They aren't happy with either side of this debate. If Zeldris hadn't been summoned using y/n as a sacrifice, then y/n's death would have proceeded as planned. Estarossa inadvertently attempted to rectify the situation by bringing Hunter to y/n but the prospect of taking Hunter's soul made him meddle too much."
"Hunter was supposed to live?"
"Until the age of eighty."
"In prison?"
"No. He was supposed to get away with the murder. The plan needs to change now."
"Good. It wasn't a great plan. Not for y/n at least."
Gloxinia nods.
"Do what you will with the information, but leave me out of it. I've said too much already."
He leaves as quickly as he came.
It's strange how one word can rewrite someone's entire fate, though you're hardly surprised.
It happened thousands of years ago in Troy.
It happened again with the captain when he met Elizabeth.
This one word kept the cults functioning within the bonds of Fate since it already applied to the members but it did not apply to y/n when she met Zeldris.
Y/n, who was supposed to die without it, was now entangled in its reality-altering web and it seems her fate and Zeldris' were now destined to intertwine.
Love.
Of course the word was love.
It was always love.
Knowing there's nothing to do but wait, you steal the book and walk out of the room to go find Escanor.
YOU ARE READING
The Graveyard (Zeldris x Female Reader)
Fanfiction(AU) You just wanted a nice relaxing beach day but nooooooo you had to get kidnapped by a cult and sacrificed to a demon prince. You're not dead. That's a start. But you would definitely prefer not to be naked. Stupid cults with their stupid rituals...
