Turning Back The Clock

The memory looped as blood rushed through Zeldris's ears. Even though this was in the past, he was completely overwhelmed by the scene he had just witnessed as all sorts of anger and disgust ran through him. The only confusing part of the emotions being who he wanted to direct it at.

Himself for caving and letting his little brother get hurt like that, or for simply not handling the responsibility himself like he should have. Estarossa for insisting his brother go into the battle to begin with and convincing him to let the blond go. Ludociel for being the monster to hurt his brother to begin with. And lastly, those insubordinate demons who left their leader after he had acted so selflessly to save them.

Although that last one came with a sobering reality as Zeldris found his body shaking from the weight of all of this. 

Actually... they weren't disobeying orders at all. It's common code for demons to leave behind others in battle who are injured or unfit to continue battle. Meliodas was the one to break the code. He... He was trying to save them because he cared about them, not because of duty or honor. He wasn't expected to do any of that, just as they weren't expected to reciprocate the gesture. He just... DID it. He did it because he wasn't like them and didn't have it in his heart to leave anyone behind. He's never had it in him...

Memories flashed through his mind of all of the signs of Meliodas's compassion as a stark contrast to most demons. He had always been that way. Whether it be saving animals or having a forgiving nature towards even the men sent to assassinate him, he never had an apathetic or cruel bone in his body. Probably why he was shunned by others his age and rejected by their father who had never met with him, not even once. It explained his grace towards his brothers as well, even when they did things most would never forgive. And it made the ravenette's hearts burn in anguish as he realized that Estarossa and himself had never seen that compassion as anything but a defect in the boy. Even though it was their only saving grace for YEARS as they unintentionally hurt the boy over and over again who forgave endlessly. They had taken advantage of that kindness in the same way those demons had by abandoning the demon. 

They would do something wrong; the blond would forgive. They would take their stress out on him by yelling or snapping, he would still love them. They would ignore his feelings, dismiss what made him happy or sad, and completely ignore the demon to prioritize other things, and Meliodas would fight for them over himself as he'd justify why they behaved in such a way. It was seen over and over again. Meliodas's birthday being the first example to come to mind. But when had it gotten that way? The three had been so close when the child was younger! All of those early doors proved that by showing them all happy, TRULY happy. So, when had this started? When had they turned into such selfish creatures? Monsters that were the very same as the demons who left their savior to die for their own lives to be saved.

When had they stopped loving their brother for the kindness he possessed, when had they started to see it as nothing but a problem?

Zeldris could have thought about this all day. Going over every mistake in his mind, every moment where he could see now how badly he screwed up, left to eternally wonder if this was the moment that did irreversible damage, or just another mistake that Meliodas forgave. But there wasn't enough time to dwell on regrets. The doors beyond this painful moment seemed to be endless, and they definitely didn't have an endless amount of time to look through them. The demon didn't even know how long they had been here now. It seemed warped to feel like an eternity and no time at all; making it even more pertinent that they rushed to the next door in case it was the first and not the latter. Though the two brothers weren't quite sure what to expect, considering they were now in unknown territory. What had happened in the time the boy was gone? In the four months where the two men thought him to be dead?