//------------------------------// // Explaining myself, fearing the future // Story: Burden of Love, Curse of Hatred // by Knight of Crows //------------------------------// Estarossa (Jack) POV I woke up not long after Celestia started raising the sun and probably the moon if Luna wasn't able to do so and took a moment to look out towards the city after letting my eyes adjust. The lighting was just right for this view to be burned into my memory, I felt like just staring out as the sun continued to rise. 'So this is the new world you spoke of? It's beautiful.' looking around to find no one I asked out loud "Is that you Mael?" 'Yes, and I'm sorry about before.' that was unexpected "It's fine. I doubt anyone else would have reacted differently anyway." I thought to see if he could hear my thoughts 'Thank you.' "You can thank me later, right now we have more important things to deal with and likely some things to prepare for." 'Such as?' he asked curiously "For starters telling the princesses about the situation, being the shoulder or punching bag for at least one of them, and the possibility of other Archangels or Commandments appearing." just as he was about to respond a servant knocked on the door "Sir Estarossa, the princesses wish for you to join them for breakfast." the servant said revealing itself to be female then leaving 'Why did she ca-' "I look and sound like Estarossa with all his power and possibly yours remember? I figured I may as well go with the name as well and try to do something good with it all." I thought walking out to meet the sisters Walking in I found only Celestia and Luna at the table, their conversation coming to an end immediately after they saw me. "Estarossa, would you care to explain what my sister was talking about?" Celestia asked as I was sitting down just in time for the food to be distributed "Basically THE Estarossa and Mael are trapped in our head, Mael tried to kill Estarossa to have revenge, and I had to intervene as if one of us dies so will the other 2. I was a normal human again if you ignore the Commandment's power when I stopped him from killing an unconscious Estarossa. On a side note, I can hear Mael speaking to me." this shocked Celestia more than Luna "Who are you really then and why was Mael trying to kill you both?" "I think I already told you my original name was Jack, as for your second question I know I already answered that when we first met. Archangel turned into a demon prince and forced to take countless innocent lives with the rest of the world trying to kill him, and thanks to the Commandment's corruption eating away at his sanity for about 3,000 years assuming time in the Coffin of Eternal Darkness flows the same as the real world, he absorbed 3 more Commandments, killed 2 of the other 3 Archangels, and nearly made himself an enemy of anything and everything that can hold a weapon. He tried to kill all 3 of us to avenge himself and all his victims and to ensure Estarossa doesn't decide he wants to play." the sisters looked, well I don't think there's a word that can accurately describe how sad they look "How and why w-" Luna started before I interrupted "I also told you about this. The demon Meliodas betrayed the demon clan and really tipped the war in the goddess clan's favor, seeing this as an opportunity they also recruited the other races: the fairy, giant, and human clans. The former Commandment of Selflessness, Gowther selected Mael to be the one to restore the balance as he was the only one capable of matching Meliodas who with his Commandment had a level of at least 180-190,000 and without had around 160,000. Gowther used a forbidden spell that rewrote everyone's memories including the Supreme Diety and the Demon King, the spell worked, but Gowther died and the result turned Mael into Estarossa and forced the goddess clan to end the war by sealing themselves and the demon clan away. However the real reason the war ended the way it did was the Supreme Diety and Demon King punishing Meliodas and the goddess Elizabeth for their love for each other. That's a story for another time though." Celestia took on a look of rage when the reason Mael was selected was said "You mean to tell me, that an innocent person had to suffer a-" I interrupted her as well "There are a few other reasons I can think of. Gowther didn't want to be a Commandment nor take part in the war, but was forced to indirectly, he saw an opportunity to end what he thought was a pointless war and took it. The other reason is a long shot, but likely given Mael and his brother Ludociel's merciless nature towards demons, even towards non-combatants, even against demons who didn't even try to defend themselves and begged for mercy." I could feel Mael listening closely as he was even more curious than the princesses "Gowther had a lover once and when she died, he made a magical doll that looked exactly like her, but was male so he wouldn't feel any attraction to it. My guess is Mael was the one to kill her, he killed the only thing Gowther cared about so Gowther decided to kill 3 birds with one stone. By turning Mael into Estarossa he would have had justice for his lover, spited the Demon King who forced him into the war, and ended the war." this shocked them being reminded such a powerful spell existed and someone was capable of using it 'Did I really do such a thing? Did I cause this?' Mael asked, believing he might have sealed his own fate "You've seen yourself that demons are just as capable of good, just as capable of love, just as capable of mercy, and just as susceptible to pain as anyone else. Fraudrin is a decent example of such considering how he died, and Meliodas, Derieri, and Monspiet were perfect examples. Need I remind you how Derieri and Monspiet saved that one human's soul from you, how Monspiet sacrificed himself for Derieri, or how Derieri died trying to save you and the others from yourself. You commited an unforgivable sin so you were turned into something worse than what you hated most." I thought to him and not having a response chose to remain silent "-rossa!" I heard Luna shout "Huh what? I'm sorry, I was talking to Mael for a second, did you say something?" "You told us how Selflessness was activated and it's effects, but something doesn't add up. How was this Gowther unaffected?" good question actually "As I said, I can't remember if it was selfish thoughts and/ or actions that triggered it, but my guess is he either found a way to make himself immune or he had so much control over his thoughts and actions that he was able to accomplish his goals without putting himself at risk. It's kind of hard to call it revenge when you have neither hate nor desire to hurt someone, especially when you are entirely focused on ending a pointless war." "What kind of world did they live in if they had to make sacrifices such as this to end a war?" Celestia asked fearing the answer "A world that is only going to get better if the Demon King has been cast down and if necessary the Supreme Diety. Meliodas, Elizabeth, and the rest of the Sins should be able to make sure of that. Now I have something that just came to my attention that requires your guards to be vigilant and extremely careful." I got their undivided attention "And what might that be?" she asked with a noticeable amount of dread "Mael and Estarossa are in my head. Mael's no longer hostile, but Estarossa will be a problem when he wakes up as he will likely try to kill us both. He is twice as powerful as me and Mael, him with the 60,000 and each of us having only around 30,000. Either the elements or Faust will have to intervene if he gets violent. That is the first thing to worry about." "I thought you said you had 60,000?" Luna asked "In the dream I was human, I didn't have the Archangel body like I do now so I was a human benefiting from the Commandment which was just enough to challenge Mael's approximate 32,000. The second thing to worry about will be the possibility of others from that world appearing. Best case scenario Elizabeth, the Sins, other Archangels if we can prove to them Mael is alive, and former Commandments Gloxinia, Drole, Gowther, Derieri, and Monspiet appear. Worst case scenario it's any other Commandment, though Zeldris and maybe Fraudrin would be fine. To put it simply, if anyone looking similar to me, a blue 4 armed giant, a red armored demon, a purple demon with a giant mouth on his chest, or a giant mass of darkness with several faces appears you NEED to hear about it and tell me. If you don't any number of ponies will be in danger. I kept my Commandment, who's to say the Archangels didn't keep their Graces or the demons their Commandments?" they both looked at me fearfully, getting a basic idea as to what they might be up against "Yes, I can see why you would be worried about such a thing. I shall have all guards across Equestria as well as the other nations watch out for this." Celestia said "Thank you." I turned to Luna and saw she wanted to say something "Let it out, I know you want to." she teleported to the other side of the table and somehow slapped me shocking Mael as even he had to ask how she did so with a hoof "You idiot." oh shit "You bucking IDIOT!" I need to stop making her cry, this is 3 times now if you count Nightmare "Do you know how scared I was, that I might lose my first friend in over 1,000 years? I- I can't even-" I reached behind her head and pulled her close "I put myself in danger so I could stay here. If Estarossa died me and Mael would have died as well. I'm sorry for making you worry, but I would rather do that than break the promises I made to you, Celestia, your mother, and myself. I hope you can understand why I had to." she sniffled as she looked up at me "I do understand, but that doesn't make me any less worried." she said nuzzling my neck "That just means you care. Besides, I doubt I'll have to do anything like that again any time soon except with Estarossa (please don't jinx me Discord) so there's no need to worry." "What should we call you then if you have HIM in your head?" Celestia abruptly changed the subject "I guess just keep calling me Estarossa. If my eyes change that will likely mean Mael is taking over, if you don't see me send a weak black pulse then that's likely the real Estarossa. There's hardly any point in calling me Jack if I am neither human nor do I have any of my old features." she looked at me with understanding as we finally started eating I'll probably have to help Mael reconcile with the others if they appear, and hopefully the rest won't be hostile. Galand, Grayroad and Melascula are guaranteed, the rest especially Zeldris are uncertainties.