✮ ˛˚ 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍 ✮ ˛˚
synopsis: the second holy war is in full swing now, following meliodas’ betrayal and his decision to become the demon king. with the help of the goddess clan’s four archangels, the sins and knights of liones are ready to take on the demon clan and get their captain back. however, it seems that there’s a lingering tension between the leader of the archangels and the sins’ vice captain.
content warning: angst, fluff, mutual pining, the reader is the ‘sin of deception’ and the sins’ vice captain, lowercase intended.
author’s note: somewhat a continuation of dark red. ludo is such a silly little guy, i love writing for him.
word count: 4.8k
✮ ˛˚ 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ✮ ˛˚
HEAVY FOOTSTEPS ECHO THROUGH THE HALLS of liones’ royal castle. a holy knight stumbles over his feet as he runs, sweat dripping from his brow and onto the deep red carpets lining the marble floor.
“your majesty! we have a situation!”
upon hearing his cry, bartra liones slams open the doors to his bedchamber, heart thumping in anticipation for the message to be delivered to him. he prayed it wasn’t the worst, given their situation. “what is it!? are the demons attacking again!?”
“no, sire, the holy knights and citizens of liones who were abducted by the demons are back!”
the king’s heart nearly stopped from the news. “how… did this happen?”
“according to eyewitnesses, they all showed up suddenly as if by magic. they appear to be completely free of the commandment as well!”
bartra releases a sigh of relief, “i see! they did it!”
the knight blinks in confusion, then it clicks. “then, you mean it was…”
“yes! but we can’t just stay here. we must hurry!!”
loud cheers erupt from the holy knights, everyone of them bore wide smiles. “we welcome home liones’ heroes, the eight deadly sins and princess elizabeth!!”
“i knew i could count on the eight deadly sins and my precious daughter!! you’ve rescued the hostages and brought them back safe and sound!” the king praises jovially, his arms open to engulf the silver-haired princess in a hug.
“but father, camelot is still being occupied by the demons,” elizabeth states sorrowfully.
“be that as it is, you’ve all done well! but, i see you’re missing a few men. pray tell, where is your captain?”
bartra turns his attention to you. you don’t miss the way diane’s face falls when meliodas is brought up.
“gowther has been badly injured, unfortunately. meliodas and ban are attending to their own things at the moment."
“i see… hm?” the king trails off when his gaze flits to elizabeth’s eyes, noting that they’re not their usual baby blue but a gold hue with triskelion symbols replacing her pupils.
“elizabeth… your eyes!”
she looks over to you, and when you give her a nod of encouragement, elizabeth gives the king a smile. “there’s something i wish to speak to you about, father.”
“a—alright…”
the moment is ruined by another knight frantically calling out to the king. bartra turns to him, inquiring what he has to say now, quite passive aggressive, too.
“sir gilthunder has returned, and with him is princess margaret!”
gilthunder looks crestfallen as he trudged up to the king. he apologizes for causing trouble but is reassured that he has nothing to be sorry for.
you and elizabeth, however, flinch at the presences that had accompanied him and the two former holy knight grandmasters. one thing was for sure, that was not princess margaret. unassumingly, the king questions the men behind his daughter, wondering if they’re new attendances of hers.
“i hate to say this, your majesty, but that isn’t the princess,” you speak up, drawing his attention to you.
“what are you trying to say, lady y/n?”
“she’s right, father. well, the more accurate way to describe this situation would be that someone is controlling my sister’s body,” elizabeth glares at the three figures.
“long time no see, lady elizabeth,” margaret’s voice cuts through the air, but the smirk she bore was a far cry from the princess’ nature.
“it seems the curse of reincarnation put on you by your mother, the supreme deity, still endures.”
“ludociel.”
all eyes flit towards you the moment you call out his name. the archangels tense, all three of them staring at you with their jaws hanging. ludociel swears he feels his soul leave his body for a brief moment.
how in the good name of the supreme deity were you alive? the archangels feel sick to their stomachs. they know they should be happy, after all, you were alive and well! but they couldn’t help it. is this some sick and twisted joke? that would be believable if it weren’t for the fact that they knew the feel of your magical power. it was practically ingrained into the very marrow of their bones.
however, this should be impossible. three thousand years ago, they had seen your corpse with their very own eyes. you were dead, no doubt. ludociel kissed your corpse for crying out loud! he watched as you and mael were cleaned up to be buried, so there’s no way...
they take in your appearance, you’d grown a lot more in height in the past three thousand years, and they could clearly see you’d gained some muscle as well. but, the one thing that stuck out to them, was the large python tattoo on your right shoulder that extends down to your forearm, inked in crimson. a branding to show that you are a proud member of the eight deadly sins, an order of criminals, sinners.
it’s quite ironic, during your glory days as your mother’s heir, you were referred to as the pinnacle of light, but now, you’ve been reduced to the sin of deception. a true fall from grace to grass.
hendrickson notices the shift in their demeanour. the unease that rolled off the archangels was reminiscent of the way the ocean waves would roll off the shore of a beach. and it wasn’t just him, too. anyone with eyes and half a brain could tell something was up.
“watch your mouth,” your words are stern and authoritative, your dark eyes taking on a gold hue as well, matching the other four goddesses in the room with the symbol of your clan, effectively taking a good number of people by surprise.
“big sister…” elizabeth is surprised at how you’d spoken to him. she notices the slight tremble of your hands, but doesn’t dwell on it too much. something clearly happened between the two of you, a fight possibly. but still, it’s odd for you to address him so coldly, after all, it’s no secret that your relationship with the leader of the archangels is— or well, was (she doesn’t know if you’d broken things off or not)— quite romantic.
the tension that begins to brew in the room is so thick you can chop it with the dullest knife in the boar hat’s kitchen. and if anyone is more shocked at how bold you are to talk down to the leader of the four archangels, it would be hendrickson. he knows you’re not the kind of person to tolerate people’s bad behaviour, but this is a whole new level of brazenness!
“i—if that’s not margaret, then who…?” bartra is the first to break the uncomfortable silence. he’s more worried for his daughter than the situation at hand to be honest.
“as you’ve heard from her highness, i am ludociel, the goddess clan’s archangel of flash.”
“same deal. tarmiel.”
“me too. sariel.”
the three reveal their identities concisely, washing away any doubts with the manifestation of their wings. the fluffy white feathers scatter around them, giving off an alluring aura. an image fitting for goddesses.
“ludociel? that godawful goddess?” diane whispers to king, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek in worry. she took notice of him referring to you as ‘her highness,’ but doesn’t mention it.
“and he’s taken princess margaret as a vessel out of all people…”
hushed whispers of awe erupt as the knights look on, mesmerized. but bartra is quick to determine how detrimental the situation is for his eldest daughter as he recounts what had become of his brother when the lance corporal had been incarnated into his body.
“what do you intend on doing with my daughter!? give her back at once!”
at the king’s order, ludociel replies with a nonchalant, “margaret offered up her own body. would a parent disregard his child’s decision?”
smug bastard.
“you needn’t worry, your majesty,” hendrickson steps forward to reassure the king, “as long as sir ludociel is within her, princess margaret is safe.”
“b—but...” the king is uncertain in trusting the druid’s words. after all, this is the leader of the four archangels, no doubt he would be taking his daughter’s body into battle with the demons.
“even an attack by zeldris of the ten commandments is nothing before sir ludociel’s might!” hendrickson boasts, a wide grin on his face.
“and most important of all, when the holy war starts up again, the power of the four archangels will be indispensable! please understand, your—“
dreyfus cuts off his friend with a hard smack to the back of his head, dragging him off somewhere to give him a good scolding for his rash statement. you heave a sigh, rubbing your temples.
“what a mess...”
elizabeth’s eyes furrow, “so that’s why you’ve come here, ludociel.”
“yes. to prepare for the holy war against the demon clan, we have come to form an alliance with this kingdom to fight alongside their holy knights...” ludociel pauses for a brief moment to build up suspense; he’s always been one for the dramatics.
“...and the eight deadly sins. it’s most reassuring to hear that they have saved the kingdom and its people countless times.”
‘an alliance? if he knows about us then he’s well aware that meliodas is our leader.’ you’re expecting him to make a jab towards the blonde, he’s always been so bitter when it came down to meliodas. rightfully so, you can’t really blame him. but at the same time, you’ve come to grow fond of the demon prince these past thousand years. he’s been a brother to you just as much as you’ve been a sister to him.
“what surprised me most was the fact that meliodas was your captain. and yet, he’s nowhere to be seen, but that shouldn't come as a surprise, he’s always had the knack for betraying people at the very last minute.”
you’ve said it once and you’ll say it again, your lover is one smug bastard. you love him, you really do, but right now you want to sew his mouth shut.
“ludociel,” you step up, standing between him and elizabeth. you’re unamused, that’s for certain. “i’d appreciate it if you’d stop trying to incriminate meliodas, he hasn’t betrayed us."
“with all due respect, my love— i mean, my lady, the fact that wretched demon is using his younger brothers to plan something is all the proof you need.” his slip up doesn’t go unnoticed. the both of you are given surprised looks, and you can see tarmiel and sariel snickering to themselves at ludociel’s mistake. he doesn’t let it affect him, though. if he lets himself get embarrassed, his reputation will definitely take a nose dive and his pride wouldn’t allow for him to be reduced to a spectacle in front of all these humans.
“to add to that, their teachers, the pacifier demon and the dozing demon, have been revived as well. you should know just how complicating that would be for us.”
“i’m well aware of that, but it’s not like he’s deliberately killing anybody.”
“when all is said and done, my lady,” he looks up at you, and it takes everything in you not to laugh. you’re used to him dwarfing you. having to be the one peering down at him is a first and you can tell he’s slightly frustrated by the shift of your dynamic.
“the guiding hand of light, and the bloodline of darkness are destined to kill one another. the demon clan and its forces may be strong, but they will be nothing to fear if stigma and the eight deadly sins join hands.” ludociel’s gaze flits over to elizabeth, his shoulders raising in a playful shrug. “who knows, your mother might even break the curse she has on lady elizabeth, surely you wouldn’t want your younger sister to die for a nth time?”
“that is not a conversation we’re interested in having!" elizabeth scowls at him, if he keeps this up, she’ll surely start a scuffle.
“well, it’s not a bad offer in any case. i’d suggest you think about it.”
“why you...!”
your head throbs as the two bicker. god, you forgot just how toxic these two were when they clashed on their ideals. “enough, both of you.”
ludociel and elizabeth quiet down at your order. your sister turns away from the archangel with a pout, crossing her arms over her chest. she huffs out something under the lines of, “i can’t believe he was to be my brother-in-law.”
you hear some people choke at her mention of your... engagement. they stare at you both, wide-eyed once again. ludociel shoots elizabeth a glare and she responds with sticking out her tongue at him childishly.
‘these two, i swear...’
“back to the situation at hand, we will not be killing meliodas.”
at your statement, ludociel frowns. you’re as stubborn as he remembers. a trait so loveable, yet so frustrating. “but, my lady—“
“our goal is to stop him from becoming the demon king, no attempt should be made on his life,” you cut him off, unwilling to listen to his argument. “what you say is true, however. suppressing meliodas and his team at this state would prove to be difficult with just our strength...”
you turn back to the sins, you want to make sure yo’'re all on the same page in order to come to a concrete agreement. as their vice captain, it’s your job to represent them when meliodas is absent, but you’re not going to force them into a decision like this one if they wouldn’t want to. you all hold meliodas dearly, and if they don’t agree to this, then a compromise will be made.
“vice captain,” merlin gives you a reassuring nod, urging you to go on with the alliance. the other sins and elizabeth do as well. your lips curl upward.
“it’s settled, then,” ludociel unsheathes the rapier at his hip, a warm yellow light engulfs the blade, stretching it out farther.
“in the name of the supreme deity,” he raises the rapier towards you. “your turn, darling.”
your eye twitches. he’s fanning the flames, but you don’t comment on it. not yet. you’ll get him back for this. the alliance comes first, teaching him a lesson comes second
“in the name of the one i am most loyal to,” your scythe is stretched out towards him as well, a light pink light encasing it. the colours mingle together perfectly, too perfectly.
“here and now, we form the alliance between the eight deadly sins and stigma.”
when everything is settled between yourself and the archangels, everyone goes about their own business.
you step out into the courtyard of the castle, taking in the oddly serene atmosphere of the night. war is upon you, yet it’s so tranquil, like any other day.
you heave a sigh, eyebrows furrowing. you hardly remember what had taken place during the first holy war. everything had become all muddled and grey after your fight with ludociel. you’d stormed off, wanting to warn elizabeth and meliodas of his plan before it was in full effect. the rest is a blur.
3000 YEARS AGO; STIGMA HEADQUARTERS
your heels click against the pearly, marble tiles of stigma as you quickly head towards the room where the gate to the celestial realm is located. you have one thing— one person, on your mind.
“ludociel!” you push open the large double doors, eyes furrowed and narrowed in rage. upon your entrance, the archangel of flash turns to you, his lips quirking upward.
“i hail the pinnacle of light,” nerobasta bows in greeting, but you pay her no mind. there was one person you were here to see, and it was none other than ludociel, your lover.
“how lovely of you to join us, my dear. i was sure your meeting with the council would’ve taken longer.”
ludociel observes you. you’re very clearly upset, for reasons he’s yet to figure out. there’s a deep frown on your face, replacing the ever present smile you’ve had to master in order to mask your true emotions. he takes in the way your eyes glint with anger, one he’s always seen being directed towards the ministers; it feels weird being on the receiving end of it.
“is there something you wish to speak with me about? you seem quite angry.”
a beat passes, you need to calm yourself so you don’t lash out. “exterminating the demon clan? what is wrong with you, ludociel!?”
you really didn’t mean for your voice to come out as harsh as it did, but you’re angry, livid even.
the pink-haired goddess opens her mouth to speak in his defence, but the look you send her way keeps her silent. she needn’t get involved lest she wants to take on your wrath in his stead.
“nerobasta, leave us. her highness and i have something to discuss.” hesitantly and begrudgingly, the lance corporal obeys. she excuses herself, opting to stand outside the room and eavesdrop on your conversation. a heavy silence lingers between the both of you for a while.
“explain yourself, ludociel,” you break the silence, folding your arms over your chest. the archangel keeps his smile, but it’s strained, you of all people would know. it just serves as proof that he’d been plotting something behind your back, and now that he’s been caught, he doesn’t know how to approach the subject without worsening your anger.
“there isn’t anything to be explained, my dear. the demon clan is to be eradicated, that is my goal. this is something that i’ve established on numerous occasions.”
“but we agreed to end the war!”
“yes, however, we never agreed on how we would do it.”
you stare at him with an incredulous expression, absolutely floored by his reasoning. you splutter, trying in vain to form a coherent sentence. “are you being serious, right now!? did it not cross your mind that i’d want to take a more peaceful approach!?”
ludociel sighs at your outburst, he’d already expected that you’d react this way. but it wasn’t even that big of a deal. what’s a couple of dead demons?
“and how could you go and say this in front of meliodas!? after all he’s gone through to help us!? he betrayed his own people for the prospect of peace!”
now, the archangel wasn’t annoyed by you in any way, in fact, it’s impossible for him to fathom holding any annoyance towards you. this reaction is something he was fully prepared to face when he was making his plan. but, he has grown annoyed of how fond you’ve gotten of that damned demon prince! god, it gets on his nerves. the amount of times he’s had to refrain from gouging out meliodas’ eyes for just looking at you. how could he let that lowly, filthy demon breathe the same air as his beloved?
now, his smile has dropped as well. both of your facades are down for this conversation. if you know about what had taken place earlier, then he doesn’t need a soothsayer to know who tipped you off. “i see that lady elizabeth has already informed you. she wastes no time when it comes to that lover of hers.”
“that’s not the point, ludociel—“
“i know that much, sweetheart. but, your view on ‘peace’ is a silly one. the only way all the races can achieve peace is by eradicating the creatures of darkness and their allies,” he pauses, raising his hand to your face, his thumb settling between your brows, rubbing soothing circles at the crease in order to get you to loosen up.
“besides, meliodas’ betrayal is his own problem. i never asked him to join us and i never wanted him here in the first place. but, i suppose he’s proven to be somewhat useful.”
“how could you say that…!” your voice raises in volume; you’re seething at every word that comes out of his mouth. you’re not usually this mad, but you’ve been so irritated these past few months. your mother and her ministers have been breathing down your neck with the preparations for the holy war. and now, ludociel’s gone and pulled this stunt as if it wasn’t bad enough that he personally put an end to the long standing peace treaty you’d put in place. you’re still salty about it.
“calm yourself, darling. why do you get so worked up over these lowlifes? there was a time where we never clashed when it came down to our ideals. safe to say, i miss those days,” his large hands trail down to your hips, rubbing soothing circles onto your skin. normally this gesture would have provided you with some comfort, flustered you even, but now all it was doing was making you even more upset.
“you’re not listening to me, ludociel! this is serious for crying out loud!”
“yes, i know, darling. but, you need to take a breath and loosen up. we’ll continue this conversation when you’re not all tense. you know just how badly stress affects your body. relax, okay?”
“and how do you expect me to do that while people are dying? while you’re killing people?”
that response pricked something in him, for the first time, you’ve actually managed to make him upset.
“my love, your words wound me”, he strokes your face with his other hand, admiring the way the light reflects in the gold of your eyes. the same ones that always hold a deep affection are now currently looking at him with heavy disdain.
he hates that he’s the target of your anger, but if he has to sacrifice a little bit of your relationship to reach his goal, so be it. besides, he’ll be able to calm you down and get you to see things from his perspective. you’ll fold, you always do.
“you make me sound heartless. i’m merely securing peace for all the other races. those demons have no place among us.”
you push his hand away, trying to wriggle out of his hold, in response, the archangel tightens his hold on you. “calm down, my love.”
“let go, ludociel! i’m going to put a stop to whatever you’re scheming. i don’t know what you have up your sleeves, but i’m prepared to put an end to this!”
the archangel holds your face in his hand, titling it up so you hold eye contact with him. his face is scrunched up in a deep frown, he even looks a little hurt. “the sooner you accept this, the better. i’m doing this for everyone and you know it,” he takes a pause, slowly releasing his grip, going back to caressing your cheek.
“i love you but your naivety is really infuriating me right now. i can let it slide with lady elizabeth since she doesn’t know the ways of the world, but you? no, my dear, you’re far more experienced. you’re mature, you’re intelligent and you’re better than this. act like the heir to the throne, prove that you’re capable of being the next ruler of this clan and not a young fool who will lead us to our demise!”
by the time he’s finished his little rant, ludociel’s face is flushed and his chest is heaving. and although he feels satisfied on getting those words off his chest, the way your eyes seem to sadden has him backtracking immediately.
your eyes are wide and you look up at him, hurt. aware of his mistake, ludociel opens his mouth to apologize but you’re already shoving him away, turning your back to him. an uncomfortable silence follows suit.
ludociel sighs, he never meant for those words to slip out, honestly! he just got a tad bit frustrated. but, he knows he’s in the wrong for jabbing at your insecurities, the same ones he’d tried to reassure you about, too.
“my love—“
“ludociel, what do you have planned for this war? what is it that you’re doing right now?” you try to sound calm, desperately trying to keep your composure. but he doesn’t miss the way your voice wavers, or the way your shoulders have drooped in defeat.
the anger in your tone is now replaced with a more sullen one. he stays silent, knowing fully well that you’re capable of shutting his entire operation down, and he couldn’t have that. he wants to lift your spirits, take you in his arms and keep you away from the war, like any good man would for his beloved, but he can’t.
“i advise you to go after lady elizabeth, she’s gone off somewhere. possibly to meliodas.”
“i wasn’t asking about elizabeth, i’m asking what you’re planning! for fuck’s sake, stop dodging my questions, ludociel!” you turn back to face him, your calm and collected facade finally crumbling to nothing.
you’re tense again, your brows are creased and your lips are pulled into a scowl. he can even make out the way your eyes turn glassy. ludociel doesn’t know how to tread on this road now. never had an argument between you two reach the height that you swore at him and now that it has, he doesn’t know what to say to appease you.
does he tell you what you want to hear? no, that would shut everything down. he can’t risk it.
does he lie to you? absolutely not, that’ll end even terribly. you’d just trust him less and his dishonesty would make you even more angry when you find out. and with the way things are supposed to go, you will find out. he doesn’t want to disappoint you more than he already has, so he makes up his mind to take the worst possible route for himself. “alright, but i trust you won’t like what i have to say.”
but, just as he’s about to come clean, you’re both made aware of the presence of numerous demons advancing towards your location, the most prominent being those of the ten commandments. goosebumps form along your arms as your lover’s smile stretches into a wide grin, one that easily sets off warning bells in your head.
“i guess everything’s coming together,” he muses, letting out a chuckle. “you wanted to know what i was up to, right, my love? come, bear witness to a new era.”
ludociel starts narrating his plan to you and every word he says makes your stomach churn. you’re sick, you feel suffocated just listening to him.
‘shut up,’ you can’t vocalize what you want to say. ‘shut up, shut up, shut up!!’
you take a few steps back, the realization of how bad the situation is about to get hits you harder than the teacup your mother once threw at you. ‘the direction those demons are coming from is the same one elizabeth headed towards. it’s around the fairy king’s forest, so that means not only are the demons at risk, but everyone else in that vicinity is too! i’ve got to get to elizabeth and meliodas!’
“so, my love—“ ludociel frowns as you fly off, effectively cutting him off in the middle of his very passionate rant. he sighs but makes no move to call you back. he knows where you’re heading anyway.
“it might not seem appealing to you, but this is what’s best, my love.”
you groan when you recall that memory. it made your head throb more than it already was. this isn’t the time for reminiscing.
“you seem to have a lot on your mind, my love.” you flinch, almost letting out a shriek. margaret’s feminine chuckle greets you, but the teasing smile on her face is clear evidence of your lover.
“don’t do that, ludociel,” you huff, crossing your arms over your chest. god, he’s always been such an ass, but that’s the reason you fell for him in the first place. asshole or not, he’s yours.
“shouldn’t you be inside? hendrickson seems to have taken a liking to you.”
the archangel stands next to you, letting the arm of his vessel fall to your lower back. the touch is unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. god, you’ve missed his touch, but you wish it was his actual hand instead of princess margaret’s. “i’d rather be here with you. besides, we have a long, awaited chat,” he pulls you closer to his side. there’s a small pout on his lips when he notices his gesture doesn’t carry the same weight because of his vessel.
“you pulled far too many stunts back there, i ought to give you a good scolding,” you take on a teasing tone of voice.
“as did you. let’s not forget who wears the pants in this relationship.”
you snort at his comment. he’s always indulging in your antics, and can be more silly than you sometimes that you can’t help but laugh. how are you supposed to stay mad at him?
ludociel’s lips quirk upward at the sound of your laughter. he views this as a blessing. after spending three thousand years in that altar thinking that he’d lost you for good, this was a pleasant surprise. he honestly doesn’t care to question how you’re alive, he’s just glad you are.
“need i remind you that we’re both in dresses, ludo?”
“...damn it.”
@𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐓𝐗𝐑𝐑. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬.
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