Zeldris as baby. Like, not turned into baby but actually a baby
OMG YES HES THE CUTEST BABY EVER CHANGE MY MIND!!
The only reason baby zel was allowed to live was because he wasn’t born weak like all the other siblings meliodas had prior to that, The DK needed a spare in case something happened to Meliodas but because all of them where born weak and useless the DK killed them infront of meliodas showing to him that any weakness whatsoever wasn’t allowed and if he even dared to show his life could be snuffed out instantly. Because of this Meliodas grew to have a habit of not getting attached to them knowing they would just die because of how weak they were. And it was too painful remembering all of them that died. At first when zeldris was born meliodas didn’t even go near him because he thought it would just be the same thing all over again. That was until he walked by Zeldris’s room one day and felt the magical energy flowing through him. It shocked him that something so smol could hold that much power. He knew he was born strong but he never expected anyone else to match him. So feeling that and seeing just how cute he was made Meliodas fall in love with him instantly. (He was too cute to resist not that meliodas would admit that out loud) so because of that any free time he got he would sneak away to spend time with Zeldris.
At first meliodas didn’t know what to do with him he had never had a sibling live this long he was scared that the minute he did touch zeldris he would die just like the others. It took a bit but eventually he did manage to walk over to where zeldris was laying and gently rub one of his cloved fingers against his cheek. Causing Zeldris to look up at him catching meliodas off guard as he wasn’t expecting him to do that.
Demon babies can sense the magic of others which is how they know who their mother is and who they ate safe with and not. And as soon as he felt meliodas’s warm protective energy he knew he was safe with him. And instantly began to play with Meliodas’s finger. Putting it in his mouth and nibbling on it with his little baby fangs. Of course demon baby fangs are super small because they aren’t developed yet so it didn’t hurt when he did that but it still felt weird. But meliodas didn’t have the heart to take his finger away and just let zeldris do it finding it weirdly relaxing spending time with him. They stayed that way for a bit longer until meliodas had to leave to go to training as much as he didn’t want to leave zeldris he had to. So he gently took his finger out of his mouth and ruffled his hair telling the little baby he would be back later. As soon as he walked out the door he put a protective spell around Zeldris’s room protecting him in case someone or something tried to harm him. He knew better then to just trust the castle guards.
It became such as routine for meliodas to visit Zeldris that nurse maids would just let Meliodas take care of him while he was there and let them have their space. In those time meliodas let himself relax and just be himself taking care of him and holding him. It was his favorite part of the day always looking forward to spending time with his baby brother. It was the one joy he had in life (before elizabeth) and he wouldn’t let anything happen to Zeldris at least while he was there. Many time he would take zeldris to meetings or patrols around the castle and if anyone said anything or looked at him in a Nasty Way they would instantly be silenced making sure everyone knew that he was talking zeldris with him and he didn’t care what anyone said. And no one dared to say anything about it again.
They were inseparable you could always find them together No matter what. As soon as meliodas would come back from a mission or even training zeldris would toddle over to him happy to see his big brother again and meliodas each time would drop everything to pick him up and talk to him. Only zeldris got to see the soft and loving side to his brother and it made him feel special. They would spend hours together talking and just hanging out before meliodas would have to leave on another mission but not before promising zeldris that he would be back and that he would bring him back something. Making the tiny demon happy as he would wait at the window watching for meliodas to return wrapped in a blanket. Most of the time he would fall asleep but when he sensed meliodas nearby he would instantly perk up and go meet him happy to see him again.
Slight au but what if, with the sins disbanding, Meliodas just chose to go back to the Demon Realm or something. Like no traveling tavern, no searching the other sins, just laying low a couple hundred years and try again later cuz at least Elizabeth is most likely gonna stay safe in this life since she’s a princess with hundreds of loyal knights and Baltra is hardly a weak king (he stays on the edges just in case though) only his plan gets cut short cuz Hendy starts searching specifically for him and him alone cuz, guess what, he has the key to the seal!
that's a really interesting take ngl
and Elizabeth would still go looking for the sins like in the original, only this time, Eli doesn't find a traveling tavern, but idk, falls into the demon realm by a stray portal that mysteriously opened? Or maybe she finds some kind of artifact that reacts to her dormant goddess magic and takes her to the demon realm just about when she's supposed to find the tavern and Mel and falls unconscious into the demon realm. Or rumors about the captain of the sins being a demon have spread and Elizabeth actively looks for a way into the demon realm.
OOH, or maybe Elizabeth doesn't find Mel, but instead another sin first! Until the only sin left is their dear captain.
BUT WAIT Hendrickson finds a way into the demon realm first and manages to get Meliodas out with some trick, or just straight up kidnapping him (depends on whether Mel still had his power stolen in this au), and upon hearing that their captain was found, the sins start a rescue mission to get him back, storming the capital in the process. And there's no way Hendrickson doesn't know how powerful Mel is (and that he's a demon), so he asks him a bunch of questions without letting on that he's planning something. And when the sins attack, Hendi tries to paint them as evil and having lost their way, which of course Mel doesn't believe and he interrogates Hendi on the spot. The sins interrupt, and Hendi, thinking fast, tasks Helbram with keeping Mel 'safe' and runs off. Helbram with his 'link' ability is currently stronger than Mel but still struggles.
Back to the first approach though with Eli falling into the demon realm: Mel finds her and after making sure the environment won't kill her (by putting his 'blessing' as the demon prince on her or something) he nurses her back to health. She tells him all about how Liones is in danger thanks to its holy knights, and Mel, seeing her resolve, can't help but help her at least get back to Liones. As they journey through the underworld to the portal leading back to the human realm, Hendrickson sends someone after Eli after discovering that she plays a key role in the revival of the demons. A holy knight comes across Mel and Eli as they're still in the demon realm and attacks him. Mel of course protect Eli even after she makes her whole show of "if he gets me, he might leave you alone" and Mel going "he'll still kill both of us I think", so while Mel originally meant to just take her back to Liones and then see if he should stay, he's forced to reveal himself to her and help her like he does in canon. The moment they get to the human realm, Hendi already lies in ambush to get both her and his dragon handle. They manage to escape though, maybe even because Ban broke out of prison and decided to go back to his captain after hearing the guards chat about Hendis big plan. I would have said Diane, but I'm not sure if she would even get wind of the whole thing with where she hid. King could also be a candidate since he respects Mel greatly and doesn't want any harm to come to him, but that would jeapordize his plans to use the holy knights to get his hands on Ban.
Now, they get away, but where do they go? Mel has his home in the demon realm, and the traveling tavern doesn't exist. The best course of action: into the nearest village, or better yet, the next kingdom.
Since Hawk mentioned when he first met Mel that they were pretty close to camelot, and the portal to the demon realm was pretty far out of the way in canon, they go to camelot where they won't be prosecuted and can take a breather. As they go, they could meet Hawk and Hawks Mom if you will and build a home on top of her after Hawk takes a liking to Elizabeth. The home still ends up a tavern since Mel still goes "I wanna drink, plus drunkards talk a lot, if we get lots of customers, we might find the other sins sooner rather than later" and, well, you know the rest...