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<•>
Nothing can fill the void left by a good parent, because nothing else loves as fiercely or as truly from the very beginning.
<•>
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•<<•>>•

One thousand two hundred ninety three years ago, Violet Serpentstone was born to the 99th Exalt of Spectrekind. Many celebrated and rejoiced at the news, as their first leader's last words had held reference to the 100th Exalt. There was mass speculation about what their Exalt had meant on her deathbed, as she had sadly passed away mid sentence, but many held the view that the 100th would be practically god like.

Violet had been a bright and happy child that quickly became a favorite of those who had the honor of tutoring her. The young Spectre had a certain charm about her that others couldn't help but notice, and admire. She was kind and awfully considerate as a child, but reality has a way of warping people to better fit it's image. Nothing would ever be the same for Spectrekind, not after Violet ascended the throne.

•<<•>>•
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"Father?"

"Yes, my sweet child?"

"Are you going to have to leave again?"

"I'm afraid that I must, Violet."

"Will you come back soon?"

"I'll rush home quickly for you, my dear."

"I love you, Father!"

"I love you too, my dear."

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•~Chapter 5~•
Father Dearest

Sunlight filtered through the large palm leaf blinds that covered the stained glass windows throughout the spacious room. It was a room fit for royalty, with it's well crafted furniture and tasteful decor. The centerpiece of the room was a large queen sized bed, with silken spectral sheets of soft violet, and a large quantity of throw pillows of varying shapes and sizes.

A young child was sleeping soundly within the bed's comfortable embrace, but the insistent sunlight refused to let the young girl continue to slumber. It's dappled light filtered across her face, and she groggily roused herself from the warmth of sleep to find the source of the light.

It took her a moment to realize that morning had arrived, and longer still to even recall what made today so special. Excitement urged the young girl to quickly untangle herself from her silken sheets, and hurriedly dress herself.

Her hastily chosen outfit consisted of a spectral blue tunic and a flowing grey skirt. She ended up putting a few wrinkles into her tunic from how she hurriedly she pulled it on. There was no time to waste-today was the day that her father was due back from wherever he always disappeared to.

He'd always told her that she was to young to know of what things he dealt with, despite how much she insisted that she was a big girl now, and that she could handle sensitive information. She was no fragile flower, despite the fact that she bore the name of one.

She was Violet Serpentstone, the to be 100th Exalt of Spectrekind-and her Father was the greatest Spectre in the whole world. During their annual festivals, Violet would often linger at the edge of the balcony that her father always stood on to address the people. She would listen to the words that flowed so easily from him-the words that rallied those gathered into a united force brimming with love for their own people.

Words were powerful, and her father could be quite the wordsmith when the mood struck him. Her father often told her that words could cut deeper than an weapon, and to be careful not to cause any unintentional harm when she spoke.

Violet was a quick witted little girl, with a sharp tongue and an insatiable curiosity. It often helped the castle's staff distract her while the long days of repetitive lessons droned on during her Fathers absence. She had even taken to pinning up a sheet of paper to count down the days until he arrived-

And now that day had finally come. Her Father, the Exalt, would be back to spin her around with a warm smile. Violet had already planned several ways to make her father smile last night-an endeavor that rendered her nearly sleepless-but it was well worth it in her eyes. Time spent with her Father was beyond precious, and she wanted to help him relax from the stressful bits of his work that she was never allowed to know about.

Her bare feet pounded against the worn wooden interior of the Great Spiritual Tree, which housed the Exalt and their family. It was older than Spectrekind itself, and the fruit that it's branches bore were incredibly sweet. They were often viewed as a candy by parents purely because of how sugary they were.

The Spiritual Tree had housed the royal family for as long as Spectrekind had inhabited the land of Naphoria-which was pretty much as long as the Spectre clan had even had a royal family-and it adapted to suit pretty much any of their needs! The hallways and staircases tended to twist and change with each new Exalt, but it was difficult for a Spectre to get lost within it's halls. It was almost as if a map had been engraved within her mind long ago, and even the smallest of changes within the tree were always known to her.

It was by this practically instinctual map that she found her way to the throne room, in the hopes that her Father would be upon the magnificent throne that stood proudly on the center of the room, perhaps dealing with some morning business.

Violet launched herself into the throne room with such enthusiasm that one had to wonder where she drew her energy from. Her small form became airborne, her skirt swishing this way and that as she shot up like a rocket. The throne room was empty, she discovered, after quickly scanning over it with her pale blue eyes. This revelation disheartened her somewhat, but she kept on searching throughout the castle, awaiting the time of her father's return.

           The welcoming light of day eventually morphed into the fading colors of sunset, it's wash of color filling the horizon effortlessly. It was all that Violet had looked at for the past few hours, her heart caught up in a storm of worry. Her Father was supposed to return today, and yet here she was, still having not greeted her Father, with night almost upon them.

The young Spectre let out a sigh and tore herself away from the balcony attached to her room. Her Father would not be returning today, she thought glumly.

She entered her room and carefully shut the balcony doors behind her, and locked them like her father had taught her many years ago. Violet was briefly satisfied with her success-her balcony doors had always given her some trouble. The locking mechanism always loved to freeze up when she attempted to lock it.

The instant she turned away from the balcony doors to make her way to her plush bed was the moment that her world descended into a living nightmare.
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Father Dearest
Where art thou now
I need your guidance and strength
I have lost
I have forgotten
The lessons you taught me
Oh please, Father Dearest
Where art thou now
I beg you return
For
The kingdom is crumbling
The kingdom is suffering
The kingdom is dying
Oh, Father Dearest
I am it's plague
I am it's sufferings
I am the source of it all
Oh, Father Dearest
I say farewell
For not even you can save me now
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<•>

Tables had been arranged outside of the quaint little tavern known as the Boar's Hat shortly after the Seven Deadly Sins had returned from their scuffle with the Armored Giant. It had taken a rousing statement from Princess Elizabeth, the third princess of the realm that had been working to recruit members of the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to wrench control of the Kingdom of Liones from the Holy Knights, before Meliodas finally got the memo. Dale, the Armored Giant, was finally put out of his misery.

          There was almost a celebratory vibe amongst them as they went about prepping a small feast. This feast was to supposedly celebrate the fact that Gowther had agreed to join the cause, although that was solely because he deemed that he was duty bound to assist Princess Elizebeth as a member of the Seven Deadly Sins. Everyone knew that this was simply being used as an excuse to bust out the beer, though.

          The preparations were nearly complete, but Princess Elizebeth couldn't shake a particular nagging feeling that she she could only classify as worry-or perhaps even anxiety. The silver haired princess shifted her gaze to the Boar Hat, and peered up at the tiniest window. Violet had been placed in the sole room on the third floor of the Boar'a Hat, which just so happened to be the room that the Sin of Greed had taken from a particular princess. Elizabeth had done her best to tend to the injured Spectre, but she was far from a doctor.

Elizabeth couldn't help but worry despite the upbeat mood. For a moment she looked around for Meliodas to voice her concern, but she paused. If Meliodas was confident that she would recover, then perhaps she was simply overreacting. The Princess shook her head and got back to work.

<•>

It's your fault that they're all dead
You killed them
The children
The mothers
The fathers
THEIR BLOOD STAINS YOUR HANDS

          She was hysterical, her lungs burned as she thrashed about, her terrified screams silenced by the blood that choked her, the blood of her people, her PeOpLe-

          The wooden floorboards jolted her out of her nightmare induced panic, and she laid still, tangled within the bedsheets. The wood was cool against her cheek, and she stilled, her heart rate returning to an acceptable level. Slowly, Violet freed herself from the sheets, using the bed and the walls to help support her shaky legs.

          She was absolutely certain that she shouldn't be up right now, but the prospect of falling asleep again terrified her. Violet sighed, the sound barely audible as she turned her gaze towards the sole window..

          Violet took flight, her path shaky at first, but she found that she had enough strength to stay afloat. She drifted over to the window, and pushed it open. Her slender form was able to slip through, and she spotted the tables piled with food, and her old comrades.

She watched them make merry, speaking with ease she wished she possessed. It was nostalgic, a warmth that even her tired bones couldn't deny. Violet smiled, content to simply watch. Slowly, the merrymaking soothed her, the last remnants of adrenaline leaving her system. After her night terror, this calm was welcome.

'What happened to the Knight?' The thought was sudden, breaking her calm like a wave. Logically, she knew what fate had likely befallen her not-quite friend, but knowing was different than perceiving. "The knight," Violet managed, "what did you do to them."

          The weight of several eyes pricked her skin, conversation dragging to an abrupt halt. She despised the weak timber of her voice, despised the hesitance in their gaze. Predictable.

          Fire blazed a trail straight from her heart to her tongue, but she bit it back. Touching down, Violet stood before her former teammates with a patience unlike her. Words were all she wanted to share, but this silence spoke volumes, and she knew it. Her gaze lazily drifted over them all, accounting for what she could. Meliodas rarely kept his tongue, so his silence was likely influenced by another - perhaps the doings of the white-haired woman or Diane. She hardly cared to pay attention to the rest as she hated even looking at them - not wanting to see the concern laced in their gaze. Gowther being the sole exception, his face set in that eternal mask of varied indifference.

          "He found peace." Gowther provided eventually. There was a subtle quirk in his brow, caused by whatever he gleaned from gazing upon Meliodas. Violet was by no means an expert in interpreting Gowther - and she was far more lost now that she had a visual accompaniment to his vocals. It surprised her, that he had chosen to break the silence, but she had her answer. "There was nothing to save. He was...thankful, in the end."

          The sentiment seemed to thoroughly confound the goat sin, and Violet was more than willing to let that beast lie. "Am I a liability, Captain?" She questioned, allowing the title the proper amount of venom. The set in his face twitched, irked by the question. She marched forward as much as she dared, then. She watched as his silence teetered, threatening to spill over. "Captain. I deserve an answer."

          "Your judgment is compromised." Meliodas finally stated, voice heavy with an unspoken sigh. Ban barked out a rough laugh, unimpressed. "Captain, you're full of shite." Silver and gold shared a brief glare.

          Gowther stood, removing himself from the entanglements of his stool. He seemed rather disinterested, if the expression upon his face was to be believed. "Captain, you are - as Ban so crudely put it - full of shit." He affirmed. "Your decision making was strongly influenced by your emotional state. One could describe it as compromised. The manner in which you switched our objective could have proven disastrous."

          "And being reckless isn't!?" Meliodas argued, shooting Gowther a stern look. "I know I wasn't on my A game out there, but when I tell you to stay out of a fight - you STAY out of a fight." He paused, waiting for anyone to protest, before continuing. "You want my opinion, and I'm giving it. You were reckless, and I was stupid - but you were the one that could've - not, nearly got killed."

          And there it is, a glaring truth. She hadn't thought much of her question, asking it to try to drag Meliodas through the metaphorical mud - but the tables had turned. She had disobeyed an order to act on her emotions, emotions she believed to be backed by solid reasoning, but emotions all the same. She scowled, displeased by the turn of the conversation. "If you had taken a moment to listen to me, it wouldn't have come to that." She snapped. Diane protested,"The Captain just wanted to save him!" Her voice was strong and sure, despite her obvious discomfort at the argument. Ban snorted, "Which nearly got us all killed anyway." They all descended into a bickering, arguing mess.

          Bile rose in her throat, and she had to struggle to bite it back. This was all they had to say? This was the excuse given, when Meliodas could have spared just ONE moment to hear her out? She breathed - or tried to, but something else needed to breathe more.

     "HE COULDN'T BE SAVED," Violet bellowed, echoing what she had so desperately tried to convey before. "There are fates worse than death - and that? That was one of them." She couldn't help but sound bitter, blinking up at the blond power. "To be aware, but not yourself. Committing actions against your will."

          Her outburst was met with silence and wide eyes, and the spiteful part of her was pleased. Let them be shocked! Let them feel bad, even! She wanted them to for just one moment understand something they couldn't. Violet hugged herself, unconsciously shuddering. "Worse even is realizing that no one can save you. Or, if they can - that they won't. Not until you are thoroughly broken." She murmured, "and the only cure?"

          "Is death." The thought that had plagued her for so long finally fell from her lips. This was her own weakness, the dark thought that had plagued her when she was at her lowest - and Violet was to much a coward to see how they'd react. So she fled. Violet said her piece and turned to the wind, fleeing back the way she'd came. Back through the window, and back to the bed with scratchy covers. Alone.

          Violet Serpentstone sobbed - because in part, Meliodas was not wrong. She was compromised. Time had cut her deep, deeper than most, but time had been unable to heal the wound it inflicted, not yet. Now that cut had become a gash, a leaking fountain of hurt and trauma. She couldn't ignore this anymore.

          She hated that she knew it.

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Author's Note: Hey guys, it's been literal years since I started this fanfiction. My adoration for the Seven Deadly Sins has faded, and the extra years haven't helped - especially since I've grown in my writing. I consider a decent amount of this story to be cringe or just weirdly ooc for most of the characters, and it's for the worst.

Now I like the concept I had for Violet and her story, but alas my execution as usual is lacking. I never seem to learn. Now - what does this all mean for this story?

I'm probably never going to finish it unless I get some real motivation. I'm bringing you this potential 'last chapter' now because it's been sitting half finished in my drafts for literal years. Honestly you can maybe tell where the writing quality shifts? Eh, it's been awhile since I've written anyway, so that doesn't matter.

TLDR: It's been years since I had my Seven Deadly Sins phase, which means this fanfiction likely won't continue. If it does, I'd probably try to re-write it to execute the ideas better.

But I am horrible with motivation - so how about this. Any of you fellas that have enjoyed this story and want it to continue - leave a comment. Tell me what you liked, tell me your theories about Violet and her past. Just let me know you've enjoyed this story. I'll try to use your enjoyment to motivate myself to revisit this fic, or at the very least write up a summary of where I was going to take all of this.

So that's it for now. The long awaited next chapter. See ya, fellas. Colt out.