14 Chpater 13: Visiting 4/5
Meliodas can be seen walking towards the gates with a neutral expression noticing that not much has changed since he left.
Even the guards who were personally ordered by his father to bring him to train under Chandler all those years ago are still there guarding the front gate.
'Seems that they got demoted from the looks of it. I don't want to know what they did to put them in this position anyway.' Making his presence known as the two guards then begin to raise their weapons at the potential intruder but seeing who it is; they couldn't help but widen their eyes in shock seeing Meliodas for the first time in several decades.
"P-princ-ce M-meliodas!?" Ignoring their fear and awe, Meliodas just walks past them not even sparing a glance in which inertly freezes them in place already realizing that his power is immense already placing him among the strongest demons within the Demon Realm despite being so young.
"Melascula, I may advise you to maintain your upmost behavior and try to restrain yourself from strangling me in front of my mother as she can be very protective of me." Feeling the disguised snake nod, he unnoticeably smiles before returning to a stern expression not knowing how his mother will react and as much as he's not willing to admit it; he missed her greatly.
After walking a great flight of stairs, he stops once he's right in front of a large door leading to the entryway into the palace where he can sense his mother's presence right on the other side causing him to contemplate his next actions.
Before he could open the door, it opens harshly as he is now standing face to face with his mother who slightly looks up at him since he is now taller than her by four inches.
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Taking the appearance of her nearly full grown son, Olivia couldn't help but tear up slightly due to his absence since he was basically the only truly good thing she got from her neglectful husband.
'If only I was younger. Only then would I truly fall in love with someone like Meliodas. Maybe in another life I might.' Without giving time for Meliodas to respond, she crashes into his arms giving him a hug filled with love and care catching him off guard.
'When was the last time I've ever been hugged like this?' Even from the memories he still maintains from his previous life as some have already been forgotten due to the time he spent during the sixty years of living in the Crimson Forest. He recuperates the hug with a equal amount of love and comfort.
"It's nice to see you again mother." Meliodas closes his eyes fully taking in the comfort he's receiving from this reunion before opening them and the atmosphere all of sudden gets tense and he couldn't help but flinch a bit seeing his father standing there in the distance looking at him with a expression of indifference.
Noticing something wrong, Olivia looks to see Meliodas looking over her shoulder as she turns around to see her husband staring him down and she couldn't help but sigh a bit in frustration.
"Can't you just not show up unexpectedly since your so focused on making sure that treaty with the Goddess Clan is still in affect when you realize that'll just cause suspicion. It's not like you even give a damn about our precious son unlike me." Seeing the tension in the room, Meliodas stands awkwardly not knowing what to do in this type of situation.
Before Olivia could rant any further, Meliodas walks past her as he then kneels down in front of the Demon King like a loyal soldier despite his unwillingness to do so but nonetheless this is still his father.
"I have returned and acquired what I was striving for the past decades. And I would like to request for your permission to learn Full Counter from Master Chandler." Says Meliodas with slightly gritted teeth knowing that he is still not strong enough when compared to his father.
After some thought about his request, "Granted..." he answers with a neutral voice and then proceeds to head off into a direction to awaken a certain master swordsmen since he forced him to hibernate centuries ago since he plans to use him for another potential heir in the near future.
Getting up from his kneeling position, Meliodas didn't care too much about his nonchalant attitude concerning him unlike his mother who is currently on the brink of succumbing to her resentment towards her husband as she looks down on her stomach while placing her hand on it which calms her down.
Confused about this predicament, "Mother are you---?" Before he could finish his sentence. "Yes, you're going to be a big brother soon Meli-chan!" Forgetting about what happened moments prior, Olivia exclaims with child-like excitement.
"Wait? Me? As a big brother?" Pointing to himself, Meliodas couldn't help but ask and she nods her head very quickly.
'Although it was difficult for me to admit since I didn't expect to get pregnant but seeing Meliodas act like this makes my pregnancy feel like it's worth something knowing that my next child will have him as someone to look up to.' She shakes her head to prevent any dark thoughts from surfacing before Meliodas could notice from her facial expressions.
"Sate, Sate, Sate, Meli-chan; when are you going to introduce your companion to me?" Pointing to his scarf, Olivia senses Melascula's presence although very faint but not enough to hide from her presence.
'So this is the legendary women's intuition huh? And it seems that Demons while pregnant take much longer periods than that of humans. Well who cares but it seems that Zeldris will be born soon.' His eyes slightly widen though they are not noticeable to those who haven't known him for a long time.
"Oh, I almost forgot, you can reveal yourself, don't worry she won't harm you I swear." After his statement, his scarf begins to darken a bit in texture and her features make themselves known to those who are present.
"Oh, it seems you found yourself a rare type of species Meli-chan." Olivia reveals a fact much to his surprise not knowing that despite having memories of the human he once was realizing that Melascula's kind was considered a rare species in the Demon Realm.
"To explain in short terms, your companion is known as a Vesquiod. Vesquiods are considered very rare due to being endangered as a result of their habitats being destroyed due to completion from other predators in causes them to retreat into large pools of miasma. And there is a rumor that if a Vesquiod were to mark you; They'll eventually obtain a form similar to us once they hit a certain age." Meliodas tilts and scratches his head due to the amount of information he just received.
(AN: I made up the name of Melascula's species as I don't want to just refer her kind as snake-like demons)
"So what is her name?" She continues on with a smile since it's amusing to see such emotion from Meliodas since he was so determined to train to even focus on those aspects during his childhood. Despite the efforts she made in the past, he wouldn't listen to her because of his father and it was almost like he was grooming him to be his next vessel instead of a heir.
"Her name is Melascula." Answers Meliodas as he comforts Melascula to calm her down since his mother is very powerful in her own right and her aura is leaking out a bit due to her being on the verge of unleashing her fury upon his father.
Olivia nods at the name and before she could ask for what he did during those sixty years. "How's Master Chandler doing?" He asks since he has to learn the magical counterpart of Full Counter which is one of the main reasons as to why he's here now because he did what was told of him before he left his father's kingdom six decades ago.
"He's fine although he misses you almost as much as I did during your absence." She answers remembering the praises he would often give to her son after their training sessions were finished for the day.
"Is he still in his training quarters by any chance?" Meliodas asks since he's finally ready to take the training routine of acquiring the technique that made his manga counterpart exceptionally deadly in battle and that is not involving Revenge Counter or Counter Vanish since they two are also devastating techniques in their own right.
"Yes. Is that why you've returned after all these years?" Giving a smile that doesn't match her eyes, Meliodas along with Melascula couldn't help but shiver a bit under her gaze.
"No, even though that's one of the reasons; I also came back to see you and Master Chandler again just to catch up on what has been going on since I left." Quickly stating his answer in hopes of not having to suffer the ire of her wrath. Luckily for him, she calms her gaze down accepting his answer while he very quietly lets out a breath of relief before heading towards where he remember where Chandler is supposedly present at the moment.
'I need to prepare myself before going in there since he can be overreactive when it comes to situations involving me.' Meliodas hugs his mother before heading off down the royal hallway to Chandler's quarters while Melascula puts her disguise back on as she lays around his neck.
