Willie wakes up in a comfortable bed with a nice, warm cover inside a cozy but nicely decorated room. At first, he's sure he's still dreaming and even pinches himself. Once he's sure he's awake, he realizes that he's coated in miasma. No doubt about it, he's in the demon realm. They must have found them. Praising God, he gets out of the bed, puts on the slippers provided for him, and changes back into his robe. His cloak is hanging up on a coat hanger, and he decides to save the complimentary chocolate bars till later. Meliodas and Inuyasha are also in the room, both still sound asleep.
"(In Arabic) Good morning, Wildelfredico," comes a perky voice. Willie nearly jumps out of his skin and gets down on his knees. A cute, young adolescent looking girl in a simple dress is standing at the doorway, her dark brown hair in a messy ponytail.
"(In Arabic) It's you, I mean, sorry your..."
"Stop that nonsense Wildelfredico, you're practically a member of the family. Now get up and give me a hug." She grabs him into a big hug. "It's so fantastic to see you again. I see you've made some new friends."
"Not really;" Willie yawns then looks at Meliodas. "Well, maybe one, sort of. What time is it?"
"It's almost 9:30."
Willie's eyes bug out. "9:30 AM!"
"Yep."
"Why did you let me sleep so late?! You know I usually get up at 6:00."
"I'm sure you needed it." She tells Willie how Scout had found them and informed the night patrol. It was after midnight when she found them, and it was nearly 2:00 AM when they got them here. They had been way off course of the demon realm's patrol area in the complete opposite direction.
Willie shakes his head. "That cat never gets anything right. Wait, who did you say found us?"
The girl tells him again and Willie is suddenly frozen stiff. He can't believe it.
"Are you sure it's her?"
"Of course, it's her. You didn't know....?" She pauses for a second realizing something. "Hang on for a minute. Communications from your monastery has been, off lately. Did you ever get any messages or letters from them?"
Willie, still in shock, shakes his head. "No ma'am, we didn't. Not that I know of. What do you mean communications have been off?"
"Something weirds going on that's for sure;" she says, "in the last two messages I got from Grandpa, he called me by my full name. He never calls me by my full name. Also, nobody there addresses me by my titles because I asked them not too." Willie's surprised to hear this."Wildelfredico, who works in the communications department?"
The monk shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not sure. It's a rotating staff. I haven't been in that area myself in over a year."
"Hum?" the girl looks to be in deep thought, then snaps out of it. "We'll talk about it after you've eaten. I'm sure you're hungry. We've got a nice spread laid out for you, including your favorite, shakshuka (poached eggs w/ mixed vegetables, herbs, and olive oil) over flatbread, if I'm remembering correctly."
Willie thinks it's probably a good thing that he's up first. Otherwise, he'd probably not get a bite once Meliodas awakens. The poor kitchen staff have no idea what they're in for?
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Meliodas has been having a strange dream. He's seeing the faces of his many nannies he had while growing up. Most didn't stay for very long since he was an extremely rambunctious, and troublesome child who got on the very last nerves of even the most patient of caregivers. Nearly all them gave up trying to tame him and too easily gave in to his constant demands, constantly giving him sweets, meats, and gifts to keep him happy or out of their hair. He even started drinking alcohol at a very young age (as well as developed what he calls his 'innocent' fun, "so-called" perverted fondling habit as a toddler and never stopped) Chandler, while he very casually over saw his charges care, didn't personally or directly take over the young demon prince's upbringing until he was about a preteen. Even then, Chandler was a very laid-back authoritative figure and rarely forced Meliodas to behave or train if he didn't feel like it. He even encouraged his young charge's excessive drinking and perverted ways and believed that the demon prince should have as much fun as possible while he could, an attitude and outlook that Meliodas continues to embrace to this day (even more so since breaking the curses).
Meliodas didn't meet actually meet his father until he was an adolescent. It was only after his father got directly involved and his extreme torture began did Meliodas start to buckle down and act blunt and cold-hearted. Meliodas was forced to suppress his natural fun-loving personality and hated his father with a passion. He was constantly angry and frustrated during this time, which caused him to frequently lose himself to his dark power (something that never happen to the other demons, except Zeldris). Non the less, Meliodas still tried to have fun, be jovial, and avoid responsibilities at any given opportunity (or when he could get away with it).
Meliodas was also very well-known womanizer during this time and was popular among the ladies despite his bad habits. However, when Meliodas first saw Elizabeth after a brutal battle, something in him changed forever. While he most definitely thought she had the perfect body, it was her unexpected kindness and sweetness after nearly trying to kill him just a few minutes beforehand that really caught his attention. Despite being known as the savage "Bloody Ellie", she never actually killed any demons and fought brutally because like Meliodas, she was forced too and didn't know how to get out of it. Outside of battle, Elizabeth was pure and good and was generally compassion and sympathetic towards her 'enemies'. From the start, she and Meliodas could relate to and understand each other and their relationship only grew. She saw the good in the demon king's intended heir, and he could be himself around her. His anger, depression, and hatred melted away, and he was again allowed to be his naturally laid-back and child-like self.
Zeldris, on the other hand, had a completely different upbringing then his brother. Cusack became his direct caregiver from the beginning and Zel's upbringing was very strict and regimental from infanthood. The two brothers seldom saw each other as children didn't even interact more regularly until Zeldris was of elementary school age. Meliodas thought his brother was completely boring and no fun at all. Zeldris was so refined, proper, serious, obedient, disciplined, and a workaholic who never laughed or smiled. The only thing Meliodas found his brother good for was to play borderlining mean and embarrassing tricks on him. Meliodas acted like he was the bratty 'younger' brother who took great pleasure in annoying and 'tormenting' Zel. To this day, Meliodas doesn't regret most of the fun and pranks he pulled, but he does regret the lack of respect and affection he had for Zeldris, which they only reconciled 3 months earlier, finally becoming true brothers.
Amongst the many faces of his caregivers, there's one that keeps appearing and standing out. A beautiful face with green eyes, blonde hair, and a goofy grin just like Meliodas. A face that has occasionally appeared in his dreams over the years, yet one he has not one real memory of at all. Who is she? And why are there the silhouettes of not only Zeldris, but of somebody else standing next to them as well.
Meliodas opens his eyes. What was that all he just dreaming about? He rubs the sleep from his eyes and yawns. Never mind the dream, there's only one thing on his mind right now, FOOD! The sweet scent of chocolate fills his nostrils. He turns his head and sees two chocolate bars on a nightstand. He devours them at lighting speed. He then scoots out of bed and realizes there's more chocolate bars next to the other two beds in the room. He gets his adrenaline going and quickly devours the four remaining bars.
Inuyasha returns from the connecting restroom, catching the dragon sin devouring the candy that was on HIS nightstand!
"HEY! THOSE ARE MINE!"
Meliodas swallows and licks his fingers. "Well, you should have eaten them while you had the chance."
Inuyasha grabs him by the shirt and is going to sink his claws in the demon.
"Good morning gentleman. Finally returned from dreamland I see."
Both turn their heads to see the same chipper girl who had greeted Willie. She has her own language amulet, or rather turquoises jewel around her neck with multiple functions.
"Who the hell are you?!" snaps Inuyasha rudely.
"I'm here to serve you my fellow demons, or half-demons."
"Thank goodness, I'M STARVING!" Meliodas exclaims as his stomach grumbles.
"HOW?!" asks Inuyasha; "You just ate four chocolate bars!"
"Six actually;" smirks Meliodas.
"WHAT? YOU PIG!"
"Of course, you're hungry," says the girl cheerfully; "Come, brunch awaits you both."
Inuyasha takes off. Meliodas starts to follow him, then realizes he needs to answer the call of nature first. Inuyasha has just enough time to load his plate high with food. He doesn't even bother to say thank you for the food and starts eating the stuff on sticks first. Meliodas arrives and waste no time digging in. Willie, who had just finished his meal, hurries to get out of their way. Inuyasha then realizes that there's no chop sticks, just strange, shiny tools with strange heads, one looking like a hand size pick fork.
"Where's the sticks?"
"Sticks?" says the girl. She then looks at the half-demon's clothes. "Oh, you want chop sticks? I think we have some in storage."
"What do you mean in storage?" While Inuyasha speaks, Meliodas gobbles up the remaining food off the half-demon's plate. This makes Inuyasha furious.
"HOW DARE YOU! SPIT IT OUT NOW!"
Meliodas just swallows and smiles. "Too late. It's your fault for getting distracted."
Inuyasha's about to punch him when their servers put two giant saucers in front of them, one with several large chunks of marinated meat (demon cattle beef), the other with zalabya (fried donut balls with powdered sugar). The two grab large chunks and gobble away. Before long, they simultaneously challenge each other.
"Ooo, an eating contest;" says the girl excitedly. "Quickly, bring out more food."
Willie gets grossed out watching this and leaves. He walks out of the small castle. This demon realm is very different from the one Meliodas comes from. It literally looks like a tropical paradise. Both water magic and water pumped from the Nile and underground sources provide the realm with lots and lots of water, as well as gathered sunlight and light magic providing light. There are many trees and tropical plants down here, as well as familiar and unique creatures running around. If not for the thick miasma in the atmosphere, it would be hard for many to believe this was a demon species realm (although their realms vary greatly).
Even a couple hundred humans lived down here peacefully alongside the demons, although they have to be coated with a special miasma weekly to survive down here until they get used to it, but they're welcomed and treated like equals. Jasmine and Scout actually spent a couple of years living here when Amalfi was caught up in the middle of a savage pirate and slavery war. They continue to be frequent visitors and call this place their second home (although a nice place to visit, neither of them are too fond of the surface desert conditions and prefer living permanently next to the ocean and rugged mountains of Amalfi). There are even a few from other mankind species who call this place home. They travel to and from the surface by gates.
Willie decides to look for Scout at the grotto pool, where the hostess said she was. Willie has met Scout and Jasmine a few times before. The mysterious Scout, while kind, gentle, and obviously very intelligent, was extremely reserved and reclusive. Willie had originally mistaken her for being cold and aloof, but she wasn't, just extremely shy. She rarely talked, at least vocally. The monk himself has never heard her voice nor ever seen her face.
Jasmine, while just as kind-hearted and quite intelligent in her own right, was much more social, assertive, and straight forward, who talked normally, despite having a bad stutter as a youngster. Jasmine was also very guarded and protective of her sister, and usually the only one who could get Scout to eat or rest (neither which she needs quite as much of as normal humans). Still, Jasmine wasn't an extrovert social butterfly and only hung around in crowds for a short period. Non the less, they each seemed to have a gift of connecting with people in their own way.
Willie finds the grotto pool. It's very large and clear. He can see somebody swimming amongst the fish towards the bottom (twenty feet at deepest). It's 3 minutes later when the person finally surfaces for a breath. He's not sure if the sun-kissed, auburn hair belongs to Scout's as she usually kept her head covered whenever Willie saw her, as do most woman in Egypt, except in the water.
"Scout!" She doesn't hear him and goes back under after a quick breath. Three minutes pass until she surfaces again. "SCOUT!" Again, she doesn't respond and dives back under. Nervous, he steps in the shallow end of the pool and splashes the water around with his hands and feet. When she surfaces again, he calls out her real name. She immediately turns and faces him, covering her eyes with her hand and keeping the rest of her face under water. She ducks underneath, pulls something of her pocket, and surfaces with her thick, dark shades on.
"(In Arabic) Scout! It's me, Wildelfredico!" As expected, she covers the rest of her face with a mask and swims towards him. She stands up and faces him, her wet, shoulder length hair already starting to curl. "It is you!"
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Back in the dining room, Meliodas continues to chow down (and drink after asking for alcohol, much to the shock of the girl and the servers). Inuyasha was taken out on a stretcher after throwing up and passing out 10 minutes after they started in a humiliating defeat. The young hostess is completely taken aback, but at the same time intrigued by Meliodas's massive appetite and can't help but admire it. She takes a seat across from Meliodas as he finishes yet another beer bottle and belches, then asks for more food.
Exasperated and gasping, the servers return to the kitchen.
"Everything here is SO GOOD;" Meliodas says with a huge smile, licking the sauce and gravy off his face. "Did you really cook all this yourself?"
The hostess gasps. Somebody must have mentioned that. "Alot of it, yes. That was incredible, I've never seen anything like it."
Meliodas grins patting his belly. "Yea well to be honest, I never thought I would again, until several months ago after breaking a curse that plagued me for so long. Even while under it, I actually had a pretty hearty appetite, but that was nothing compared to now. Hawk's sure in for a surprise if he ever returns. I don't like to admit, but I really do miss him."
"Who's Hawk?" Just then, they hear a pig snorting. A young pink pig, smaller and much slimmer than Hawk, walks in and towards the hostess. It is wearing purple sunglasses, holding a lunch basket in its mouth, and has schoolbooks strapped to its back. Meliodas is surprised since Willie had claimed nobody had swine around here. The dragon sin briefly gets his hopes up on a pork dinner when his host starts talking to the pig in a very chipper tone.
"Welcome back Angel. How was school today?"
"Huh?" Meliodas is perplexed. The queen continues talking with the pig like it was a person. The pig seems to be talking back, in foreign words. The hostess scratches Angel behind the ears, which the pig is obviously enjoying.
"Did you see Iris?" asks the queen. The pig answers.
"She gave you a belly rub, did she? So, she remembered your sweet spot, that's great."
They continue the conversation for a few more minutes, Meliodas just stares wide-eyed at them, disappointed. "I guess this means I'm not getting any pork again today."
"Meliodas." The dragon sin snaps to attention. He just realizes that he doesn't remember giving the hostess his name. Maybe Willie told her. "This is Angel, the REAL boss around here. Angel, meet Meliodas, my cuz...um...guest."
Angel walks up to Meliodas and greets him. The queen hits them with her amulet.
"Hi, Meliodas. My name's Angel." Angel says wagging her curled up tail.
"Huh? Oh, uh, hi pork. Do you come tender, juicy and fatty or tough and dry?"
"What?" Angel doesn't get it and looks at her friend.
"Oh, it's...just his special way greeting you...I guess. Alright girl. Go get your snack, do your homework, and I'll meet you at the springs at 3:00."
"Ok Cleo." Angel gets a pat on the head and the young sow takes her leave.
The hostess gives Meliodas a funny look; "What kind of greeting was that?"
Meliodas puts his arms behind his head and leans back in the chair. "Just a joke, sort of. I thought you people didn't keep pigs."
"Oh, she's not an ordinary pig. She's originally from the purgatory dimension located in Central Africa. Number 1 in her class."
Meliodas is amazed; "Really? Hawk's also from purgatory. I didn't know there were more like him, besides Wild that is."
The servers return a few minutes later and reload the table, mostly sweets and desserts. Meliodas digs in. He asks with his mouth full if he's in the demon realm or someplace else.
"You're in the demon realm, of course." Meliodas looks around this lovely place, as well as a glimpse outside, if that's even a window.
"This is the demon realm? But it's so, bright and beautiful. "
"What were you expecting; fire, brimstone and darkness resembling hell?"
Meliodas stuffs a sweet pastry into his mouth; "Yes actually."
The hostess laughs. "Why would we have it look like that? That's so ugly and depressing. Demon realms don't have to be like that."
Meliodas shrugs his shoulders. "I guess not. By the way, I didn't catch your name."
"You may call me Cleo. It's such a pleasure to finally meet you, Meliodas. I never thought I'd ever get to meet you face to face."
Meliodas nearly chocks on his food and downs it with milk. "You've heard of me? How is that possible? I didn't even know there were other demon clans other than my own?"
"You'd be surprised."
"By the way, am I going to meet this queen of yours? I've never heard of a demon queen before. Willie seems to trust her, so she must be good, unlike my father."
Cleo holds back a giggle. "She's closer than you think. If you be nice to her, she'll be nice to you."
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The demon slayer's own tricks have been turned back on her. She's been disarmed of everything, and she's now being held inside a perfect cube. She refuses to give her name, although Carmine and Nuri already know it. She's Ching Liang, Chinese warrior and the empire's top demon slayer, although she offers her services all over Asia, Africa, even Eastern Europe. Carmine and Nuri keep telling her they don't know where the remains of her grandfather and parents are located. They tell her that her family stopped by 25 years ago and demanded directions to Gangkhar Puensum. They refused to give them directions and had a brawl with Nuri, who ended up giving permanent burn injuries her uncle, the only survivor. Her mother and father gave their solum word not to go to the mountain and left. Neither Carmine nor Nuri trusted them. It took some convincing from Carmine, but Nuri had finally agreed to go after them. By the time she got there, the mountain had already claimed the grandfather and parents. The blue dragon emerged and fatally wounded the uncle. He just barely survived thanks to Nuri and Carmine. The ladies searched for weeks, for however long they could survive the mountain's wrath, but never found their bodies.
The slayer refuses to believe them and retains her faith in her uncle's story. He always told her that Nuria Shila had out right murdered them and that he only survived by divine luck. He lost both eyeballs, leaving him blind. Most of his body was brutally scared and disabled. He's been unable to walk and left only with partial use in one arm, unable to work or care for himself. He claimed to have defeated the dragon and maintained that their mission was for a noble cause, although he was never specific about what it was, nor that it was actually for money. Ching Liang swore that she'd one day avenge her family's deaths and bring their bodies home to rest in peace.
"LIES! ALL LIES! You will pay for what you've done to my family."
Nuri looks at her fiercely. "We don't care what you think of us or what you believe. But you are NOT going to set foot on that mountain and have everything and everyone for a thousand miles around destroyed!"
"I don't care."
Merlin translates what Ching Liang is saying. King's shocked and beside himself. "And I though Nuri was a psychopath."
"I heard that;" replies Nuri.
"What are you going to do with her?" ask Merlin; "I have a number of ways I could punish her."
"Send her to the Chinese border out in the tundra;" says Nuri; "Maybe some time in the wilderness will knock some sense into her."
"Nuria;" says Carmine; "That's rather harsh, don't you think?"
Nuri really doesn't think so, but gives in. "Alright. Send her to her hometown. Let herself be humiliated by her defeat."
"Done." Carmine asks Merlin and King to help her as the transport spell takes a lot of magic. A few minutes later, she's gone.
"I'm sorry you had to get caught up in that;" Carmine tells Merlin.
"That's ok. It's a nice learning curve."
Carmine realizes that everybody's exhausted. They were up all night and its already afternoon. "All of you, please get some rest. I'm making arrangements to get you three to lower altitude village as soon as possible so you can properly recover. Gelda should be fine soon, but humans must break into this environment gradually, and this part of the world is no place for a fairy."
They lay down and try to get some rest while Carmine tries to make magical teleline contact again. Nuri and Merlin, however, just sit on their cots. Unexpectedly, Nuri gets up and sits next to Merlin. They sit there for a while, barely able to stay awake.
"I...I used to get into the bed with you once in a while."
Merlin gasp. "You did? I don't remember that."
"I did. That song from Mother, I used to hide and listen to you sing it."
Merlin is moved to tears. The vulachish chocks holding back sobs. "Will you...(sniffs)...sing it with me? That was my biggest dream as a child, to sing that song with...my sister."
Merlin smiles through her tears; "Of course, I will."
The two sisters sing their mother's lullaby softly. Gelda, who's still awake, smiles as she listens.